Russian Federation
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the political life in Russia
went through changes, which laid the basis for the formation of
the contemporary election system of the Russian Federation. In
those years, after a long period of more than seven decades, election
of deputies to the representative body of the country (Congress
of People s Deputies) was held on an alternative basis. The first
President of the Russian Federation, B.N. Yeltsin, was elected
on June 12, 1991, also on an alternative basis. It was at that
time that prospects opened up for participation in elections of
various political parties, and other principles were established
at the constitutional level, which, later on, were called for
and embodied in the present-day Russian election system: free
nomination and discussion of candidates, publicity and openness
of tabulation of voting results.
In the same years, an active search was underway for a new model
of the constitutional system in the Russian Federation - a balanced
system of interaction of the legislative and the executive. The
impossibility to reach a compromise on these issues between the
legislative body of the country and the President of Russia resulted
in the early dissolution of the Supreme Soviet and the Congress
of People s Deputies, followed by a nationwide voting on the
draft Constitution of the Russian Federation and elections to
the State Duma and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly
of the Russian Federation of the first convocation on December
12, 1993.
The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation provided
that elections to the State Duma were to be held by a mixed majoritarian/proportional
election system: 225 deputies were to be elected by a majoritarian
(plurality) system in single-seat electoral districts (constituencies)
and 225 deputies - by a proportional system on the federal lists
of candidates nominated by electoral associations. Electoral associations
included a wide range of public associations and their blocs (federal
parties, federal political movements whose charter was registered
by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, blocs of
such public associations. The blocs might also include other federal
public associations whose charters were registered by the Ministry
of Justice of the Russian Federation).
Thus, important innovations were introduced in the election system.
The use of a proportional election system for the first time made
it possible for public associations of various political orientations
to participate, on a real and guaranteed basis, in a federal election
campaign and served as a serious incentive for the development
of the multi-party system in Russia.
Thirty-five electoral associations stated that they would participate
in the elections. Out of them 13 electoral associations were able
to collect the required number of signatures in support of their
lists of candidates and they were put on the election ballot.
Eight electoral associations won the right to take part in the
distribution of deputy mandates in the State Duma of the first
convocation: the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) received
22.92% of the vote, "Russias Choice" - 15.51%, the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) - 12.40%, the
political movement "Women of Russia" - 8.13%, the Agrarian
Party of Russia - 7.99%, the Yavlinsky-Boldyrev-Lukin Bloc ("YABLOKO")
- 7.86%, the Party of Russian Unity and Accord - 6.73%, the Democratic
Party of Russia - 5.52%.
The 1993 elections established the main parameters of the election
system of Russia: elections based on equal and direct suffrage
by secret ballot; age qualification: of 18 years for voters and
21 years for State Duma deputies; a 5% threshold in the election
of 225 deputies by a proportional election system; possibility
of division of the lists of candidates into regional groups.
One hundred and seventy eight deputies, two from each subject
of the Russian Federation, were elected to the Federation Council
by a majoritarian (plurality) system.
Approval of the new Constitution of the Russian Federation by
a nationwide voting confirmed the legitimacy of the elected Federal
Assembly - the representative and legislative body of state power,
consisting of two chambers - the Federation Council and the State
Duma.
The Constitution proclaimed that the Russian Federation is a democratic
federative law-based state with a republican form of government,
in which the bearer of sovereignty and the sole source of power
is its multi-nationality people and the supreme direct expression
of the power of the people is a referendum and free elections.
Article 32 of the Constitutions lists the right to elect and be
elected to bodies of state power and bodies of local self-government
among the fundamental rights and freedoms of a human being and
citizen. The Constitution also establishes the grounds for restriction
of the electoral right: the right to elect and be elected is not
enjoyable by citizens kept at the places of confinement under
a court sentence and by citizens pronounced to be incapable by
a court.
Under the Constitution the State Duma - the lower chamber of the
Russian Parliament is formed by means of elections. However, the
most detailed constitutional regulation characterizes the principles
of the election of the President of the Russian Federation: the
President of the Russian Federation is elected for a term of four
years on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by
secret voting; the same person cannot hold the office of President
of the Russian Federation for more than two consecutive terms.
Eligible for election as President of the Russian Federation is
a Russian Federation citizen not younger than 35 years, permanently
residing in the Russian Federation for not less than 10 years.
The Constitution confirmed that the first term of the President
of the Russian Federation elected in 1991 was to end in 1996.
The further development of the election system of the Russian
Federation is inseparably connected with the adoption of new election
laws of the Russian Federation.
Soon after the new Constitution of the Russian Federation came
into force federal statutory acts were adopted, which laid down
the principle of election-based formation of the legislative (representative)
bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation
and, subsequently, election of heads of their executive power
and also representative bodies of local self-government. Because
the Constitution did not establish universal principles for the
conduct of elections in the Russian Federation these principles
had to be established at the level of a federal law. This was
done through adoption in 1994 of the Federal Law "On Basic
Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right of Citizens of the
Russian Federation to Participate in a Referendum. " This
law confirmed such principles of elections in the Russian Federation
as conduct of elections on the basis of universal and direct suffrage
by secret voting; prohibition of any qualifications for the exercise
of a passive electoral right other than minimum age and residence
qualifications*; qualifications for the exercise of a passive
electoral right; main principles for putting citizens on voters
lists (voter registers); guarantees of openness in the conduct
of elections and in vote counting; organization and administration
of elections by independent bodies - election commissions, with
the Central Election Commission and election commissions of the
subjects of the Russian Federation acting on a permanent basis.
It must be also noted that the provision of Article 15 of the
Constitution of the Russian Federation, concerning the priority
of the international treaties of the Russian Federation over federal
laws served as a reference point for incorporation of international
election standards in the election laws.
The year 1995 saw adoption of federal laws, which laid the legal
basis for holding the regular parliamentary and presidential elections
in 1995 -1996.
The Federal Law "On the Election of the President of the
Russian Federation" provides that a candidate is deemed elected
if he receives over 50 percent of the vote, provided not less
than one half of the voters included in the voters lists took
part in the election. If a candidate fails to receive an absolute
majority of the votes, a second round of voting is held on the
two candidates with the most votes. In this case, a candidate,
who received the maximum number of votes, is deemed elected, provided
the number of votes cast for this candidate exceeds the number
of votes cast "against all candidates."
The 1996 presidential elections were marked by a high intensity
of the competitive struggle. Candidates for the office of President
of the Russian Federation were nominated by 6 electoral associations
and 88 initiative voter groups. However, only 11 candidates qualified
for inclusion in the election ballot (they had to collect not
less than 1 million voter signatures), two of these candidates
being nominated by the political parties (LDPR and "YABLOKO").
The voter turnout was very high (69.81% of the number of voters
on the voters lists) but the first round of voting failed to establish
the elected candidate: candidate B.N. Yeltsin, the incumbent President
of the Russian Federation, received 35.28% of the vote, candidate
G.A. Zyuganov, a deputy of the State Duma representing CPRF 32.03%.
As a result of the second round of voting on these candidates
B.N. Yeltsin received the maximum number of votes - 40,203,948
or 53.83% of the votes, G.A. Zyuganov 40.30%.
These rules for the election of the President of the Russian Federation
laid down by the 1995 law remain unchanged to this day although
the federal law has been repeatedly revised since that time. However,
the revisions were intended for more detailed regulation of various
electoral procedures (election campaigning, funding of election
campaigns of candidates, ban on the use of the so-called administrative
resources) and did not affect the main parameters of the election
system used in the presidential elections.
In March 2000, election of the President of the Russian Federation
was held earlier than scheduled because B.N. Yeltsin resigned
before expiration of his term of office.
Out of 33 presidential candidates 5 were nominated by the electoral
associations and the rest by the initiative voter groups. As of
voting day, eleven candidates were put on the election ballot,
of whom two were nominated by electoral associations. Despite,
or possibly, because of the fact that these were early elections
the other registered candidates were unable seriously to compete
against V.V. Putin, the then Chairman of the Government of the
Russian Federation, who acted as President of the Russian Federation.
V.V. Putin was elected President of the Russian Federation by
receiving 52.94% of the vote. The number of votes who took part
in the election was 75,181,073 or 68.74% of the votes.
The nearest runners-up, representing the "left" and
"rights" wings of the political spectrum - G.A. Zyuganov
and G.Ya. Yavlinsky received 29.21% and 5.80% of the votes, respectively.
The margin of voters trust was not used up and in the next presidential
elections, held in 2004, President Putin received 71.31% of the
vote and was re-elected for a second term. The voter turnout was
64.39%. In these elections the other candidates could not offer
serious opposition to the incumbent President. It is noteworthy
that the presidential candidates included none of the leaders
of the political parties, which won considerable support of voters
in the previous elections. In the 2004 presidential elections,
six candidates were nominated by the initiative voter groups,
four - by the political parties. As of voting day six candidates
remained on the election ballot, of who three were nominated by
the political parties.
The 1995, 1999 and 2003 parliamentary elections were conducted
under a mixed majoritarian/proportional election system, basically
similar to that used in the election of deputies of the State
Duma of the first convocation in 1993.
At the same time, before each election the legislative parameters
of the elections were somewhat updated, primarily with a view
to improving regulation of the procedural and technological aspects
of the organization of the elections and the election campaign
funding; assuring equal access of election participants to the
mass media*; and increasing involvement of political public associations
in the process of formation of election commissions. There were
also other innovations, which concerned regulation of the issues
connected with the formation of lists of candidates and qualification
for the distribution of deputy mandates.
A highly acute problem arose at a certain stage in the use of
the proportional component of the election system - the problem
of the removal of disparity between the assurance of proportional
representation of voters in parliament and assurance of its effective
operation. This problem was engendered by a multiplicity of public
associations, which often had similar political platforms but
wanted to fight independently for the votes in elections.
Under the federal law on the election of deputies in force during
the 1995 parliamentary elections, any association could gain the
status of an electoral association if its charter provided for
participation in elections through nomination of candidates. There
were 273 such electoral associations. One hundred and eleven associations
used the right to nominate deputy candidates: 40 of them by themselves,
71 within 29 electoral blocs. The election ballot contained 43
federal lists of candidates nominated by electoral associations
and electoral blocs. However, only 4 federal lists of candidates,
which received a total of 50.50% of the vote, gained the right
to participate in the distribution of deputy mandates: CPRF (22.30%),
LDPR (11.18%), "Out Home Is Russia" (10.13%), "YABLOKO"
(6.89%).
Such results could not but necessitate certain changes in the
parliamentary election system. They also prompted applications
to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation requesting
that the constitutionality of the relevant legislative provisions
be verified. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation
confirmed the right of the lawmakers to establish by themselves
the kind of election system to be applied in elections within
the framework of the Constitution of the Russian Federation but
pointed out that the five-percent barrier must not prevent political
parties, which together received more than 50% of the vote, from
being admitted to the State Duma and that not less than two political
associations must participate in the distribution of deputy mandates.
In this connection, the lawmakers directed their efforts to ensuring
the representative nature of the State Duma: the fixed 5% threshold
was replaced by a floating threshold, i.e., a threshold which
was to be lowered until not less than two associations, which
together received over 50% of the vote, gain the right to participate
in the distribution of deputy mandates.
On the other hand, several rules were adopted for encouraging
consolidation of homogeneous political forces so as to avoid excessive
fragmentation and, consequently, inefficiency of the parliament.
For this purpose additional requirements to electoral associations
were introduced in the laws: such associations could no longer
include trade unions, amateur organizations and clubs based on
interests (cultural, professional, etc.). Thus, only political
associations were allowed to participate in elections and, by
the beginning of the 1999 election campaign, their number was
139.
Meanwhile, a political discussion was underway on the transition
to a fully majoritarian election system: the corresponding amendments
to the election law were proposed by the President of Russia but
the parliamentary majority disagreed with him.
In the 1999 parliamentary elections, 26 political associations
nominated their candidates independently and 40 within ten electoral
blocs. On voting day, the election ballot listed 26 federal lists
of candidates, six of which negotiated the five-percent threshold
and received a total of 81.37% of the vote. The votes cast for
these lists were divided as follows: the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation - 24.29%, the Inter-Regional Movement "Unity"
("Bear") (electoral bloc) - 23.32%, "Fatherland
- Whole Russia" (electoral bloc) - 13.33%, the Union of Right
Forces (electoral bloc) - 8.52%, Zhirinovsky Bloc (electoral bloc)
- 5.98%, "YABLOKO" association - 5.93% of the vote.
The next stage of the development of the election system in Russia
was characterized by the consolidation or regrouping of various
political forces and by a consistent policy of the lawmakers aimed
at strengthening the role of political parties in the political
life of the country. A landmark event on this road was adoption
in 2001 of the Federal Law "On Political Parties."
This law defined political parties as the only kind of public
associations, which may independently nominate candidates, lists
of candidates in elections of all levels, and established the
criteria for recognizing a public association as a political party,
such as nationwide organization (presence of regional branches
in more than a half of the subjects of the Russian Federation)
and mass participation (not less than 10 thousand members). The
law also provided for state support of political parties, including
provision of differentiated financing (depending on the federal
election results) from the federal budget to political parties,
which received at least three percent of the vote in the parliamentary
elections.
In 2002, a mandatory requirement was laid down at the level of
a federal law that under an election system used in elections
to the legislative (representative) bodies of state power in the
subjects of the Russian Federation not less than a half of the
deputies should be elected by a proportional election system.
This provided a serious impetus for the development of political
parties.
At the same time, it was established that the political parties,
which gained seats in the State Duma in the 2003 elections, would
be able to use a simplified procedure for registration of their
candidates in the elections of all levels - from federal to local.
In 2002, when an updated version of the law on the election of
deputies was to be adopted, a great deal of attention was given
to the question of the regional aspect. The Constitution of the
Russian Federation does not provide for mandatory direct election
of members of the Federation Council but merely states that it
shall include two representatives from each subject of the Russian
Federation (its legislative and executive bodies). Therefore,
it was suggested that in the elections to the State Duma the lists
of candidates had to be more closely "tied in" with
the regions. As a result, the law laid down a mandatory requirement
that the federal list of candidates should be divided into not
less than seven regional groups (the former law also required
division of the list into regional groups but did not specify
their number).
In general, stimulation of party building in the regions in conjunction
with the other measures taken by the state in the sphere of state
building, plans for reforming local self-government aim at gradual,
consistent involvement of citizens in the political life, in practical
participation in running the affairs of the state and local communities.
The right to participate in the 2003 election of deputies of the
State Duma was granted to 44 political parties. In addition to
this, 20 national public associations had the right to form electoral
blocs with political parties (only one such association took advantage
of this right). The federal lists of candidate were nominated
by 21 political parties and 5 electoral blocs formed by 12 political
parties. The election ballot listed 23 federal lists of candidates,
of which 5 were nominated by electoral blocs. Four federal lists
of candidates qualified for participation in the distribution
of deputy mandates. These lists received a total of 70.65% of
the vote and were nominated by the political party "United
Russia" (37.57%), CPRF (12.61%), LDPR (11.45%) and the electoral
bloc "HOMELAND" (9.02%).
These results show that despite a smaller number of participants
in the election campaign, the State Duma of the fourth convocation
was less representative than the State Duma of the third convocation.
The results of the 2003 parliamentary elections demonstrated that
votes in elections could be won only by a political party, which
was capable of mobilizing all voters who shared the political
views expressed by the party. Besides, the competition of several
political parties comparable in their influence is a guarantee
of the development of society, prevention of its stagnation and
regress.
After the 2003 elections, the lawmakers took a number of steps
to strengthen and consolidate the political parties. Thus, in
2004 the requirements to the minimum membership of political parties
were raised (up to 50 thousand members).
In 2005, the parliamentary election system was reformed at the
initiative of the President of the Russian Federation. The new
federal law on the election of deputies provides that the next
election will be conducted only by a proportional representation
system and that only political parties will have the right to
nominate federal lists of candidates. The law does not provide
for formation of electoral blocs. The barrier which a political
party has to negotiate to obtain mandates in the State Duma has
been raised to 7%. At the same time, the law provides that this
barrier will be lowered if the parties, which won 7% of the vote
and more, receive together less than 60% of the vote.
The proposal about transition to election of deputies of the State
Duma only on party lists was also conditioned by the need for
the formation of more representative parliament, consideration
of the votes of the majority of Russian voters, which is presently
a factor consolidating the Russian society. This task cannot be
accomplished by means of elections in single-seat electoral districts
where, as a rule, more than a half of the votes are "lost."
Moreover, in recent years, the so-called administrative resource
and various forms of covert bribery of voters played an ever greater
role in elections by a majoritarian system. More often than not
deputy mandates went to citizens who had good relations with the
local authorities or to well-to-do persons who needed a deputy
mandate to ensure the immunity for themselves and their business.
During an election campaign some candidates positioned themselves
as "independents" and thus won greater support of voters,
but, having received a deputy mandate, they joined party factions.
This can well be regarded as a form of distortion of the voters
will.
The use in the parliamentary elections of the proportional election
system embodied in the new federal law on the election of deputies
will make it possible not only to deal with the problems mentioned
above but also to remove the shortcomings of the existing proportional
election system by increasing the regional part of party lists:
the law provides for a whole set of measures to bring concrete
candidates on the list closer to voters. Upon full transition
to a proportional system this will make it possible to keep the
main advantage of the majoritarian system - a stable connection
between the elected deputy and his voters. Thus, the law makes
it mandatory that the federal lists of candidates should be divided
into not less than 100 regional groups according to territories
- a kind of electoral districts. Receipt of a deputy mandate by
a regional group directly depends on the support of the group
by voters, i.e., on the results of the activity of the political
party in the region, as well as the candidates nominated by the
party within the corresponding regional group.
One of the measures of state support for the parties is a 10-fold
increase in their state financing from 2006. Now, each party,
which received more than three percent of the vote in the federal
elections, will be entitled to this financing in the amount of
5 rubles per vote cast for the party.
The introduction of the proposed election system must become a
step towards real democracy, political competition of the parties
because it will be conducive to the integration of political parties
and encourage them to carry out more serious work in the regions.
The solution of the aforementioned tasks directly depends on the
credibility of election results among voters. To ensure such credibility
is a national objective but primarily it is the task of the system
of election commissions where about one million people work during
election campaigns. The changes made in the federal election legislation
in 2005 allow the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation,
election commissions in the subjects of the Russian Federation
working on a professional basis to deal with several tasks connected
with the improvement of voter registration and preparation of
voters lists, introduction of electronic voting technologies conforming
to the present level of development of information technologies,
effective protection of electoral documentation, raising of the
level of juridical literacy of election officials and voters.
It is for the first time in Russia that the election commissions
have been charged with exercising real control over the legitimacy
of financing of political parties in the period between federal
elections.
An important condition for ensuring the credibility of elections
is prompt publication of election results and the possibility
of public control over their establishment. In the Russian Federation,
with its eleven time zones, this problem, as well as the problem
of voter registration, can be solved only by means of State Automated
System of the Russian Federation "Vybory" (GAS "Vybory").
Since 2003, GAS "Vybory" has been successfully coping with the task of transmitting the protocols of voting results from all 95 thousand precinct election commissions to the Internet within one day. Keeping this information system in good working order, its modernization in accordance with the constantly changing realities is one of the priorities of the CEC of Russia.
* * *
A brief journey into the history of the formation and development of the election system of the Russian Federation, an overview of the present-day electoral space of the country make it possible to conclude that this development has not yet been completed and that it consistently aims at creation in the Russian Federation of a civil society based on the principles of democracy.
