The CEC Posters For The Election Of Deputies Of The State Duma Of The Federal Assembly Of RF On December 19, 1999
19 December 1999 - the Election of Deputies of the State Duma
OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY OF THE ELECTION
The election of deputies of the State Duma are prepared and held in an open and transparent manner.
Election commissions established for the election of deputies of the State Duma make arrangements for keeping voters informed about the time and procedures of election activities, the progress of the election campaign, candidates, registered candidates.
All normative acts of election commissions, bodies of state power and bodies of local self-government relating to the administration of the election are published; other decisions of these bodies on election administration are published or made public in other ways.
Members and representatives of a higher-level election commissions, a candidate registered by the given election commission or a higher-level level election commission, the candidate's authorized person or agent, an authorized representative or an agent of an electoral association, electoral bloc which registered a federal list of candidates, a candidate on such list have the right to be present at all meetings of an election commission, during the vote count, and when precinct, territorial election commissions are working with voter lists, ballots, absentee certificates for voting at the election of deputies of the State Duma, protocols of voting returns, election results. In order to be present at meetings of an election commission or to observe an election commission working with the these documents, the said persons are not required to get a special permission from the given election commission. The election commission must provide free access for the said persons to its meetings and to the premises at which the commission counts votes or works with the said documents. Media representatives also have the right to attend meetings of election commissions, be present when votes are counted and observe the commission working with the said documents.
The aforementioned persons as well as observers, foreign (international) observers have the right to be present at polling stations from the time when a precinct election commission starts its work on voting day, including the day of early voting, up to the time when the commission is notified that a higher-level election commission has accepted the protocols of voting returns, and also during vote recounting.
Observers, foreign (international) observers, mass media representatives have the right to be present in other election commissions when they are tabulate voting returns, establish election results, make up protocols of voting returns, election results, and also during vote recounting.
Enlarged forms of protocols of voting returns where voting returns are entered as soon as they become available are displayed in the voting premises starting from the beginning of voting.
Votes are counted in an open and transparent manner directly by the voting members of the precinct election commission.
Direct vote counting is carried out at the voting premises in places accessible to voting and non-voting members of the precinct election commission. Members of the precinct election commission, with the exception of the chairman (deputy chairman) and the secretary of the precinct election commission, are not allowed to use writing utensils during the vote count. All people present at vote count must have an opportunity to observe the actions of the members of the precinct election commission.
As a rule, the precinct election commission draws up the protocol of voting results on one sheet. If the protocol is drawn up on more than one sheet, each page must be numbered and signed by all present members of the precinct election commission and sealed with the seal of the precinct election commission.
Protocols of voting returns are made up in three copies and are signed by all present voting members of the precinct election commission.
At the request of a member of the precinct election commission, a member or a representative of a higher-level election commission, a candidate registered by the given or a higher-level level election commission or his/her agent, an authorized representative or an agent of an electoral association, electoral bloc which registered a federal list of candidates or a candidate from the said list, an observer the precinct election commission, immediately after signing the protocols of voting returns, must provide copies of these protocols to the said persons or allow them to copy these documents and have them certified by the commission.
Based on the text of the Federal Law «On the Election of Deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation»
19 December 1999 - The Election of Deputies of the State Duma
I AM A VOTER
«Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to elect and be elected to the bodies of state power and local self-government»
Article 32 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation
THE RIGHT TO ELECT AND BE ELECTED
A citizen of the Russian Federation who has attained to the age of 18 years on voting day shall be entitled to elect deputies of the State Duma in the federal electoral district.
A citizen of the Russian Federation who has attained to the age of 18 years on voting day and permanently or currently resides in the territory of the given electoral district shall be entitled to elect a deputy of the State Duma in a single-mandate electoral district.
Eligible for election as a deputy of the State Duma shall be a citizen of the Russian Federation who has attained to the age of 21 years on voting day.
A citizen of the Russian Federation who resides or stays outside the Russian Federation during the period of the preparation and conduct of the election, shall have the same electoral rights as other citizens of the Russian Federation in the election of deputies of the State Duma.
Candidates for election to the State Duma may be nominated by voters of a single-mandate electoral district or may nominate themselves by self-nomination. Candidates, lists of candidates may be nominated by electoral associations, electoral blocs.
VOTING PROCEDURE
Voting shall be conducted on a calendar non-working day from 8.00 to 20.00 local time.
Each voter shall vote in person. Voting for other voters shall not be allowed. Ballots shall be marked in a specially equipped booth or a specially equipped other place or a room for secret voting, where the presence of any other persons shall not be allowed.
When receiving ballots, the voter shall write the series and number of his/her passport or an equivalent identity paper in the voter list and sign for the receipt of each ballot.
A voter unable, on voting day, to come to the voting premises of the electoral precinct where he/she is included in the voter list shall be entitled to obtain an absentee certificate from the territorial election commission (45 - 25 days prior to voting day), the precinct election commission (24 days - 1 day prior to voting day) of the given precinct and take part in the voting within the electoral district where the given voter is eligible to vote, in the electoral precinct where he/she will be staying on voting day.
District election commissions may allow all voters in one of or several electoral precincts on ships at sea on voting day, at polar stations, in other remote and hard-to-reach areas to vote early but not earlier than 15 days prior to voting day.
If separate groups of voters included in the voter list of an electoral precinct are located at places which are far away from the voting premises and are inaccessible or hard to reach by any means of transport (at polar stations, in other remote and hard-to-reach areas, etc.) and, therefore, early voting cannot be conducted in the whole electoral precinct the district election commission may, with the concurrence of the election commission of a Subject of the Russian Federation, allow these groups of voters to vote early but not earlier than 15 days prior to voting day.
A precinct election commission shall make arrangements to enable voters to vote if they are entitled to be or are included in the voter list of the given electoral precinct but are unable to come on their own to the voting premises for valid reasons (poor health, physical disability, etc.). A precinct election commission may determine that the reason is untenable and refuse to conduct voting outside the voting premises.
COMPLAINING ABOUT VIOLATION OF ELECTORAL RIGHTS OF CITIZENS
Decisions and actions (inaction) which violate electoral rights of citizens may be appealed by voters, candidates, registered candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs, other public associations, agents of registered candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs, observers and election commissions.
Decisions and actions (inaction) of bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government, public associations and officials as well as decisions and actions (inaction) of election commissions and their officials, which violate the electoral rights of citizens of the Russian Federation, may be appealed in a court.
Decisions and actions (inaction) of election commissions and their officials violating electoral rights of citizens may be appealed in a higher election commission.
Decisions in respect of complaints received in the course of an election campaign shall be taken within five days but not later than a day before voting day or, on voting day or the next day, immediately. If the facts cited in complaints require additional verification, decisions in respect of such complaints shall be taken within ten days. In respect of appeals against a decision of an election commission concerning voting returns, election results, a court shall adopt a decision within two months from the day on which the appeal was filed.
Courts and public prosecutors' offices shall organize their work (including on days-off) so as to ensure prompt adjudication of complaints and appeals within the periods prescribed by this Federal Law.
VOTER LISTS
Voter lists shall be compiled by election commissions separately for each electoral precinct.
The persons furnishing voter data shall be responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the data and its timely submission.
All citizens of the Russian Federation who are eligible to vote shall be included in voter lists.
The voter list shall be made available by the precinct election commission to voters for examination and additional correction not later than 20 days prior to voting day.
A citizen of the Russian Federation eligible to vote has the right to state to a precinct election commission that he/she has not been put on the voter list and inform the commission about any error or inaccuracy therein. Within 24 hours, and, on voting day, within two hours after this statement is made and not later than the end of voting, the precinct election commission shall check the statement and the submitted documents and shall either remove the error and inaccuracy or give the voter a written answer indicating the reasons why the statement was rejected.
Citizens of the Russian Federation who are eligible to vote and are staying in foreign states at private invitations, on official business and as tourists shall be put on the voter list when they come to the premises of a precinct election commission, upon production of a passport or an equivalent identity paper and an absentee certificate for voting in the election of deputies of the State Duma.
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Voters who settled down in the territory of an electoral precinct after the voter list had been made available to voters for inspection as well as voters who were not included in the voter list for any other reason shall be additionally put on the voter list by a precinct election commission on the basis of a passport or an equivalent identity paper and, if necessary, a document confirming their permanent or current residence in the territory of the given electoral precinct.
A voter may be included in a voter list only in one electoral precinct.
After the voter list has been signed by the chairman and the secretary of a territorial election commission a citizen may be removed from the voter list only on the basis of official documents or when an absentee certificate for voting in the election of deputies of the State Duma is issued to a voter in a procedure set forth in this Law. In this case, the date when the citizen was removed from the voter list and the reasons therefor shall be noted on the voter list. This note shall be certified by a signature of the chairman of the precinct election commission and, in the event of issuance of an absentee certificate for voting in the election of deputies of the State Duma, by the signature of the member of the election commission who issued the certificate.
The decision of a precinct election commission to include or not to include a citizen in the voter list may be appealed in a higher election commission or in a court (at the place where the precinct election commission is located) and these bodies must adjudicate the complaint (statement) within three days or immediately, if the complaint is filed within three days prior to or on voting day. In the event of a decision in favor of the appellant, the precinct election commission shall immediately make the necessary correction in the voter list.
Based on the text of the Federal Law «On the Election of Deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation»
19 December 1999 - The Election of Deputies of the State Duma
Responsibility for Violation of Electoral Rights of Citizens
RSFSR Code
of Administrative Offences (excerpts)
Obstruction of free exercise by a citizen of the Russian Federation of his/her electoral rights or the right to participate in a referendum and violation of the secrecy of voting
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of ten to fifty minimum wages and in the case of officials from twenty to one hundred minimum wages.
Obstruction by officials of the work of an election (referendum) commission or interference by officials with the work of the said commissions or the activity of members of an election (referendum) commission when they perform their duties
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of twenty to one hundred minimum wages.
The failure of officials to furnish to an election (referendum) commission the information and materials required for its work or their failure to carry out a decision of an election commission taken within the scope of its competence
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of ten to twenty minimum wages.
Article 401
Election (referendum) campaigning carried out during the period when it is prohibited by a federal law, a law or other statutory legal acts of legislative (representative) bodies of state power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of ten to fifty minimum wages.
Article 402
Dissemination of false information about a candidate running for election as deputy or for an elective office for the purpose of influencing the election outcome
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of twenty to one hundred minimum wages.
Article 403
Violation of lawful rights of a member of an election (referendum) commission, an agent of an electoral association or a candidate running for election as deputy, an observer, a foreign (international) observer
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of ten to fifty minimum wages.
Article 404
Violation by a member of an election (referendum) commission of the right of citizens to examine the voter list (list of citizens entitled to participate in a referendum) or the failure to consider a statement about an error in the voter list within the period established by law or the refusal to give a citizen a written answer containing reasons for rejecting the request for correction of the voter list (list of persons entitled to participate in a referendum) or the failure to carry out a court decision ordering correction of the voter list (list of persons entitled to participate in a referendum) within the established period
shall be punishable by a fine to be imposed on the guilty member of the election (referendum) commission in the amount of up to ten minimum wages.
Article 405
Issuance by a member of an election (referendum) commission of ballots for voting in elections (referendum) to citizens to allow them to vote for other persons
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of ten to twenty minimum wages.
Article 406
The refusal of the administration (employer) to grant a leave of absence provided by law to a registered candidate running for election as deputy of for an elective office, an agent of a candidate or a member of an election commission for participation in the preparation and conduct of the elections to the bodies of state power and bodies of local self-government (referendum)
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of ten to fifty minimum wages.
Article 407
Violation by a mass media outlet, a journalist of the conditions for election campaigning established by election (referendum) laws
shall be punishable by a fine to be imposed on the editor-in-chief or another executive or the journalist in the amount of ten to fifty minimum wages.
Article 408
Production and dissemination of printed propaganda materials which do not contain information about organizations and persons responsible for their publication during the preparation and conduct of elections to bodies of state power and bodies of local self-government (referendum)
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of ten to fifty minimum wages.
Article 409
Deliberate destruction, damage of portraits of candidates running for election as deputies or for an elective office, posters with their biographies, other printed propaganda materials posted on buildings, structures and in other places with the consent of their owner or possessor
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to ten minimum wages.
Article 4010
The failure of a candidate, a person elected as deputy or to an elective office or an electoral association (electoral bloc) to submit information about the amount of contributions (donations) to electoral funds and about the sources from which electoral funds are formed and to file a report on all sums spent on the conduct of elections
shall be punishable by a fine to be imposed on a candidate, a person elected as deputy or to an elective office, an authorized representative of an electoral association in the amount of ten to one hundred minimum wages.
The failure of the chairperson of an election (referendum) commission or a person acting for him/her to publish, within the period established by law, a report of the expenditure of budget funds allocated for the preparation and administration of elections to bodies of state power or bodies of local self-government (referendum) and the information and reports indicated in the first part of this article
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to fifteen minimum wages.
Article 4011
Unlawful acceptance by a candidate running for election as deputy or for an elective office, an electoral association (electoral bloc) of donations in any form from a foreign state, a foreign national or a foreign organization, from an international organization or an international public association, from Russian legal entities with foreign participation
shall be punishable by a fine to be imposed on a candidate or an authorized representative of an electoral association (electoral bloc) in the amount equal to three times the size of the donation or by confiscation of the donated property.
Article 4012
The failure of the chairperson of a precinct election commission to present to a citizen of the Russian Federation or to a foreign (international) observer the information about voting returns which must be presented under applicable laws
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of five to ten minimum wages.
The same act committed by the chairperson of a territorial election commission and his/her failure to meet the deadline for the publication of information on voting returns in elections (referendum) as provided by the election (referendum) laws or incomplete publication of such information
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of ten to fifteen minimum wages.
The same acts committed by the chairperson of a district election commission and his/her failure to meet the deadline for the publication of information on the results of the elections (referendum) as provided by the election (referendum) laws or incomplete publication of such information
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of fifteen to twenty minimum wages.
The same acts committed by the chairperson of the election commission of a Subject of the Russian Federation
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of twenty to fifty minimum wages.
The same acts committed by the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of fifty to one hundred minimum wages.
Article 4013
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
(excerpts)
1. Obstruction of the exercise by a citizen of his/her electoral rights or the right to participate in a referendum and obstruction of the work of election (referendum) commissions
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of fifty to one hundred minimum wages or in the amount the wages or other earnings of the convicted person for a period of up to one month or by obligatory labor for a period of one hundred twenty to one hundred eighty hours or corrective labor for a period up to one year.
2. The same acts:
a) compounded by bribery, deceit, use of force or threat of its use;
b) committed by a person with the use of his/her official position;
c) committed by a group of persons who conspired to commit them or by an organized group
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of two hundred to five hundred minimum wages or in the amount the wages or other earnings of the convicted person for a period from two to five months or by corrective labor for a period from one year to two years or by an arrest for a period up to six months or by confinement for a period up to five years.
Article 141
Falsification of electoral documents, referendum documents, deliberately incorrect count of votes or deliberately incorrect establishment of election, referendum results, violation of secrecy of voting, if these acts are committed by a member of an election commission, referendum initiative group or referendum commission
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of five hundred to seven hundred minimum wages or in the amount the wages or other earnings of the convicted person for a period from five to seven months or by confinement for a period up to four years.
Article 142
Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation
19 December 1999 - The Election of Deputies of the State Duma
BALLOT PAPER
Ballots shall be given to voters included in the voter lists upon production of a passport or an equivalent identity paper (a serviceman's card or an officer's identity card for people who undergo military service, a certificate of a standard form issued by internal-affairs bodies, a foreign passport of the Russian Federation citizen for persons who reside permanently or stay outside the territory of the Russian Federation, a seaman's passport). Each voter shall be entitled to receive two ballots, including one ballot for voting in the federal electoral district and one ballot for voting in the given single-mandate electoral district. If a voter votes on the basis of an absentee certificate for voting in the election of deputies of the State Duma at the place where he/she temporarily stays outside the single-mandate electoral district where the voter resides permanently or currently, he/she shall be entitled to receive only the ballot for voting in the federal electoral district.
If a voter thinks that he/she has made a mistake when marking a ballot, he/she may ask the election commission member who had issued him/her a ballot to give him/her a new ballot in place of the spoilt one. The election commission member shall issue a new ballot to the voter, make a corresponding note in the voter list against the name of this voter and sign the note. The spoilt ballot shall be immediately canceled and an act shall be drawn up to this effect.
A voter who is not able to mark the ballots by himself/herself may be assisted by another voter who is not a member of the election commission, registered candidate, agent or authorized representative of a registered candidate, an electoral association, electoral bloc, an observer, foreign (international) observer. In this case, the voter shall orally inform the election commission of his/her intention to ask another person for assistance in marking the ballots. The first, middle and last name, series and number of the passport or an equivalent identity paper of the person assisting the voter shall be entered in the appropriate column (columns) of the voter list.
A voter shall drop marked ballots into a sealed stationary ballot box.
On the ballot for voting in the federal electoral district a voter shall put any mark in the blank box to the right of the name of the electoral association, electoral bloc for whose federal list of candidates he/she votes, or in the box placed to the right of the words «Against all federal lists of candidates». On the ballot for voting in a single-mandate electoral district, a voter shall put any mark in the blank box to the right of the name of the registered candidate for whom he/she votes, or in the box to the right of the words «Against all candidates.»
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Excerpts from the Federal Law «On the Election of Deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation»
Translation Provided by IFES Moscow
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