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1. Introduction
This report reflects not only the cumulative findings of the IFES Russia team relative to the 1996 presidential campaign and election, but is also the product of longer term observation of electoral reforms in the region and on-going consultations with successive election authorities in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation dating from 1989. It has been designed as a reference tool for those tasked with legal, institutional, and procedural reform of the electoral process. The authors have made every attempt to represent the facts accurately and objectively, and in so doing, have cross checked information with several sources whenever possible.
While this report is extremely in-depth and offers many suggestions and options with regard to refining the electoral process, it should be acknowledged that the 16 June presidential election and 3 July repeat voting further advanced the democratization and professionalization of election administration in Russia. Based on the accumulated observations of 7 IFES teams, it was generally noted that the manner in which the presidential elections were conducted, represents an important step in the continuing evolution of the election process in the Russian Federation since 1993. Refinements and innovations were noted in many procedural components, and notwithstanding sporadic inconsistencies, officials generally demonstrated a competent and professional standard of overall performance. The level of transparency and accountability has been notably advanced. For this, election administrators, campaign participants, and the Russian people should be congratulated. Thus, the level of discussion is in this report tends to be both technical and analytical, and many of the recommendations presented are quite sophisticated
This list of people who should recognized for their contributions to the substance and presentation of this report is extensive. In particular, IFES would like to thank CEC Chairman Nikolai Ryabov and Vice-Chairman Alexander Ivanchenko for the access, cooperation, information, and expert analysis provided to IFES by commission members and staff. Much is owed also to the Head of the Judicial Chamber for Information Disputes, Anatoly Vengerov, and his staff and to Supreme Court Justice Alexander Fedin.
To representatives of the legislative and executive branches, candidate organizations and political parties, mass media, and subordinate election commissions who participated in IFES training events and responded to IFES mailings and surveys: the IFES Russia team benefited immeasurably from your insights. Thanks also to the authorized candidate representatives and deliberative voting members of the Yeltsin, Zyuganov, and Yavlinsky campaigns, who kept IFES advisors abreast of the relative success of transparency mechanisms and the adjudication of grievances process.
IFES is certainly indebted to the services provided by Alexander Postnikov of the Institute for Legislation and Comparative Law for frequently explaining and clarifying the intricacies of Russian election law and practice, commenting on the feasibility of various reform proposals, and for assisting in the editing of this report.
IFES's project in Russia was made possible through a grant from the US Agency for International Development.
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