The Electoral Law and the Electoral System of the Russian Federation

One of the political institutions, in the characterization of which there is a set of rules and rules that determine the ratio of executive and legislative power, where legitimacy is seized or achieved, is the electoral system of the Russian Federation that forms a certain type of power, organizes it and ensures the participation of the entire society in the creation, formation And the development of state power. If elections are held successfully and the results are recognized by the majority, this indicates that the given society is able to solve by political peaceful means all existing problems.

Components

In its structure, the electoral system of the Russian Federation has two main sections. First of all, this is the electoral law - the legal norms on the procedure for elections, where there is a passive (the right to be elected) and an active right (political, concerning the right of citizens to elect). There are also many acts and electoral laws that regulate the election process itself. Secondly, the main component of the electoral system is the electoral process - a whole complex of various actions to organize elections, to implement them.

This practical organizational moment is based on the right to vote and has several important stages in its sequence: the appointment of the date, the formation of electoral districts and precincts, the formation of election commissions and, most importantly, the nomination of candidates, their registration, then voting and summing up the results. The electoral system of the Russian Federation is working according to this scheme. All modern states with a democratic system apply in practice national elections - parliamentary and presidential, then elections of regional authorities and, finally, in local self-government.

Types

The electoral system of the Russian Federation applies in practice also other types of elections, this depends on the level of power that is being formed at the moment. There are three types: the majority electoral system, mixed and proportional.

1. Majority is based on the principle of the majority, that is, the candidate wins, who has obtained more votes than the others. The electoral law and the electoral system of the Russian Federation are recognized by the majority as absolute (fifty percent plus one vote) and relative (just more than rivals). If the absolute majority is not collected by anybody, the choice will be made in the second round of voting, where there will be two candidates who have won the most votes. It is for this system that the president is elected. In 2012, the heads of the regions of Russia again began to pass to power through direct popular elections, but already in 2013 the president proposed amendments that were adopted, and now the parliament votes for governors.

2. The electoral law and the electoral system of the Russian Federation used the principle of proportionality in the distribution of parliamentary seats according to the number of votes received in elections by party lists, and each party had a certain number of parliamentary seats, which is calculated from the number of mandates received by the party in each of the constituencies . So in Russia the State Duma and regional parliaments were formed until 2011. In 2007, the electoral barrier was raised, the rubric "against all" and the lower threshold of turnout for elections were removed, the parties could no longer form the blocs. Now, after 2011, everything has changed, about the third, the current system, separately.

Mixed Electoral System of the Russian Federation 2016

The 2011 State Duma elections were the last, when only four parties were held in the federal parliament, whose representatives were in the lower house of the fifth convocation. These are the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, United Russia, the LDPR and Just Russia. None of the other parties could cross the barrier of 5-7% of the vote. The development of the electoral system of the Russian Federation assumes to use the proportional-majority principle of holding elections, as it already happened in 2016. This is a fairly flexible mix of types of electoral systems, convenient for elections to a specific authority body.

One half of the deputies was elected in single - mandate constituencies (the majority majority system), the second half by proportional system with a five percent barrier and a single constituency. The current legislation prescribes candidates who have passed to parliament to nominate candidates for the presidency of Russia without collecting signatures, and fourteen of them have accumulated. The parties that received more than three percent of the votes would receive a whole series of privileges and privileges with a direct admission to the next elections to the State Duma. But three percent did not score any, and the same four of the above four parties remained at the helm.

The system of election commissions in the Russian Federation

Collegial independent bodies, which are formed according to electoral legislation, organize and ensure the conduct of elections at all levels and referendums, are election commissions. They do not depend on the state or local authorities, they act independently (in practice, officials almost constantly interfere in their activities).

The system of election commissions in the Russian Federation is quite complex and heterogeneous. The Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, the Central Election Commission, is given the leadership of the whole system, it functions on a permanent basis and organizes elections at the federal level. Legal regulation of the electoral system of the Russian Federation is completely in her hands. ICS of the RF - election commissions in the constituent entities of the country - also operate constantly and in addition to participating in the organization of elections at the federal level, elections in the regions (legislative deputies) are fully implemented. Election commissions exist territorial, in municipalities, as well as district and district.

Principles

When the electoral system of the Russian Federation is examined in detail, the concept, its types, it is necessary to dwell on the basic principles of its actions. First of all, it fixes the fundamental principles, where the basis of the entire mechanism of legal regulation of citizens' rights is enshrined in the Constitution: to be elected and elected to state authorities and to local self-government. The principles of the work of the electoral system should serve as a criterion for the legality, lawful actions of candidates, voters, commissions and associations - all those participating in elections.

Since different types of electoral systems of the Russian Federation are used, it is necessary to fully protect the rights of citizens. Legally enshrine the principles of electoral rights The Constitution of the Russian Federation, the charters of the constituent entities of the Federation, federal laws, the norms of international law. There are usually two groups of principles for regulating electoral relations: the principles of participation in elections of Russian citizens and the principles relating to the organization of elections and their conduct.

Group of Principles

In the principles of participation of Russian citizens in elections there is a direct link with the conditions of implementation and the content of the subjective rights of voters. The electoral right must be direct, equal and universal, participation in the election of voters - voluntary, voting - secret. The Constitution of the Russian Federation does not explicitly state the existence of each of these principles, but all this is stipulated in Article 81 relating to the presidential elections of the country. Therefore, article 3 in the Federal Law on Guarantees of Voters' Rights, which provides for voluntary and free participation in elections of all Russian citizens, is of special importance, and the basis is a secret ballot and universal direct and equal rights.

The principles of the electoral system of the Russian Federation focus on universal suffrage, where it is assumed that any citizen aged eighteen years has the right to be elected to state authorities and local self-government. And he can also elect by participating in all electoral actions provided for by law and carried out by law. Realization of this right does not depend on race, gender, language, nationality, origin, official or property status, attitude to religion, place of residence, membership in public associations, beliefs and any other circumstances. This is precisely what the Russian electoral system calls universal.

Referendum of the Russian Federation

The referendum is popular vote on bills and other issues of great importance for the state. This is the same as the elections - the highest and most direct expression of the people's power - this is the concept. The electoral system of the Russian Federation concerns not only elections to state power, it is she who organizes and conducts referendums that are held entirely throughout Russia, in every corner of it, by secret ballot, on the basis of direct universal will with equal rights. Each referendum participant has only one vote.

A citizen can vote in referendums only personally, participation in them is completely free, and it is impossible to control the will. During a referendum, a citizen can not be compelled to express his own convictions, nor can he be compelled to renounce his own opinion. Preparation and conduct of this event are carried out by election commissions, state bodies and local self-government. All their actions are conducted publicly and openly.

Legal framework

The Institute for the Development of the Electoral System of the Russian Federation (IRIS) is a public, non-governmental and non-political organization, positioning its activities to fill the public's need for information about democracy. It is from there that the most odious revelations in the sphere of the electoral rights of Russians go. However, we must remember that the universality of the electoral law can not in any way mean the absence of restrictions on the participation of citizens in elections. The legislation has a long series of qualifications established in the norms of law, where the voting rights of individual citizens are limited for one reason or another.

Of course, there is no discriminating component in these qualifications, because they pursue the goals of a different order: to ensure an interested and conscious participation in elections without abusing voting rights. The censorship of the age and the residence qualification are the first in this list. A person who has not yet reached the age of thirty-five years can not be elected president, and a State Duma deputy can not be younger than twenty-one years old. But the maximum age is not set. The settlement rate applies only to passive electoral law. For example, the president can not be a person who lives in the country for less than ten years.

Do not participate in elections

The electoral legislation provides for other conditions restricting citizens' electoral right, concerning both the law in general and the passive and active components thereof. For example, persons who are in the place of deprivation of liberty, to which the verdict of the court has been applied, and also by the court recognized incompetent. Limitedly able to participate in elections can. Voters who are in military service in military establishments, organizations and military units located in the territory of a given municipality are not allowed to vote in local government as voters if military personnel did not have a place of residence prior to conscription.

Foreign citizens who have the citizenship of another country, a residence permit or any other document that confirms the right to permanent residence in a foreign country of a Russian citizen can not be elected. A person can not take a public position if there is a court decision in relation to him, depriving him of this right, convicted for committing serious crimes and having an unprecedented or unexpunged conviction, convicted and having an unrecognized conviction for extremism, as well as many other articles. A person who has already held this position for two consecutive terms can not be elected president.

Additional restrictions

Based on the Constitution, the Federal Law, the charter of a constituent entity of the Federation or a municipal entity, additional restrictions are established that allow a person to hold an elected office only a fixed number of consecutive terms in the same position. The status of a deputy can not be combined with engaging in certain activities. A deputy may be elected, but within the prescribed period he must stop activities that should not be combined with his new status. Freedoms and citizens' rights are limited on the basis of the federal law only to the extent necessary for the protection of the constitutional order, health, morality, legitimate rights and interests of society, for ensuring the security of the state and defense of the country.

Restrictions imposed on citizens to achieve such goals are expressed in the electoral law, which is set out in the Constitution and current legislation. Basically, this rule is observed. If the state allows incapacitated citizens, for example, to form parties and participate in state policy, then this state itself may well become incapacitated, thus exposing both the morals and the security of citizens, as stated in the Constitution. Scientific literature instead of the term "restriction" more often uses the notion of "censorship", although this is the same, only the word "censorship" was used more often for historical events, and today it is customary to talk about the limitations of suffrage, which are not based on scientific inference, but On the basis of legislation. The main thing is that citizens participate in elections on equal terms and have identical opportunities (from a legal point of view, of course).