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III. Political Process Issues
A. Campaigning and Advertising
B. Role of Mass Media
C. Campaign Finance
A. Campaigning and Advertising
The Duma Elections Law states in Article 53 that election campaigning officially begins on the day a candidate or the federal list of candidates is registered. There have been major disagreements, however, on the interpretation of this clause. LDPR leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky and others, who took part in intense election campaigning in July and August, before the registration of candidates, claimed their activity was valid. The CEC, however, issued a warning that, if their campaigning continued, they would be excluded from registration. The question posed is whether the CEC is right in its judgment, given that such activity took place before registration.
According to Article 8.2 of the Duma Elections Law campaigning is defined as «activities aimed to encourage or encouraging voters to participate in the elections and to vote for or against any registered candidate or for or against any registered federal list of candidates.» One can argue that if a candidate or an electoral bloc or association engages in obvious appeals for support the law on election campaigning may be violated. However, excessive restrictions on political free speech may interfere with constitutionally-protected rights of associations/blocs to inform the public of their activities.
Moreover, existing legislation does not ban public associations from campaigning or putting forward their political platforms or using their funds for such purposes before the registration of candidates or candidate lists. Nor does existing legislation ban parties from organizational work or the holding of conferences and conventions to attract new members. Even if such activity contains elements of campaigning, it is not necessarily election campaigning.
A further issue, not discussed in the Duma Elections Law, is campaigning targeted at collecting signatures for registration. According to the wider interpretation of the law, candidates, electoral blocs and associations may, before registration takes place, disseminate information and engage in organizational work with citizens during the collection of signatures in support of candidates or candidate lists. They may also collect donations and deposit them in special accounts to be made public before registration.
B. Role of Mass Media
The media play a significant role during the elections, especially in a country as vast as Russia, where direct canvassing of the electorate is less popular than the use of television, radio and the press in conveying political messages and political advertising. The media, therefore, is the main source of information that enables the voter to make a choice. The problem is that the media are not always channels of accurate and unbiased information. Over the last few years, in particular, hitherto independent media outlets have been merged into networks and media holdings that concentrate power in the hands of competing groups of oligarchs, aggressively promoting their own political and/or financial interests. The so-called «information wars» have cast doubt on the reliability of even the most highly-rated outlets on sensitive political issues, while some of the more popular presenters have openly participated in «kompromat» (compromising material) and the character assassination of political rivals.
Given this situation, it is understandable that the new Duma Elections Law is much more aggressive in its attempt to provide equal opportunity in the media for candidates, electoral blocs and associations. The problem, however, is that although the new electoral laws impose far more obligations on the media, they are often ill defined, ambiguous or inflexible. In many ways, they restrict both the role of the media and its capacity to disseminate a pluralism of views and the ability of the electorate to receive a coherent body of information.
Regulations governing the media are spelled out in Articles 55 - 60 of the new Duma Elections Law. The law states that the electronic media and the press are obliged to provide free and paid air time and space to candidates, electoral blocs and associations if they receive more than 15% of their budget from state funds or their «founder» is a state organ. The electoral campaign in the print media begins 40 days before election day and ends one day prior to election day. Television and radio coverage begins 30 days before election day and ends one day prior to election day. Private electronic media and the press may, on a contractual basis, provide paid airtime and printing space if the rates and terms of payment are the same for all candidates, electoral blocs and associations. Candidates, electoral blocs and associations determine the form and character of their campaign in the media. One-third of the total amount of free airtime on television and radio is provided for joint activities, such as debates, roundtables and discussions.
Most of these regulations are directed at safeguarding the right of politicians and parties to convey their political message: in effect their right to distribute campaign literature. Political advertising, valid in itself, is distinct from the traditional role of professional journalists, whose duty it is to provide and disseminate accurate information, to act as a «watchdog» for society and to safeguard the public’s right to know. The role of the journalist, as distinct from political campaigner, is to expose wrongdoing or political hypocrisy and to subject politicians, where necessary, to probing questions in the public interest. This function becomes even more important in cases of a biased media as far as a plethora of information from diverse and pluralistic sources gives more opportunity for citizens to determine the truth and accuracy of views.
The new laws, however, make such activity even more difficult than in the past. Questions have been raised about the meaning of the words «electoral propaganda.» The distinction between the words «information» and «facts» and the extent and meaning of the clause that states that news programs on the elections should be reported «without commentary.» Many journalists have assumed that to say anything positive of a candidate or bloc is in itself to express sympathy. One example of this confusion, provided by a TV channel, is whether to interpret a simple statement such as « a record number of people attended a rally» as an objective fact or political bias.
Due to the ambiguities and shortcomings in the law, the CEC has been called on to issue clarifications of clauses regulating the media. Some of these answer provided have not been considered by media lawyers to be adequate in explaining the many problems inherent in the Duma law.
Recommendations:
- Liberalize the law regarding the campaigning period to allow informational advertising pieces during the nomination process. This way, no «blackout» period occurs after a decree for election is issued. Currently, one can campaign freely prior to an election decree, not at all after an decree is issued, and in a regulated manner during the election campaign.
- Promote discussion of clauses regulating the media in the Duma elections with the goal of improving the draft Presidential Elections Law. Discussions between the CEC, media lawyers and the media (editors/executive producers) would help to clarify problems and provide suggestions for amendments to the Presidential elections law, which would better enable the media to inform the electorate so that they can make better informed decisions.
C. Campaign Finance
The campaign finance ceilings are set for the Duma election in the Duma Elections Law. The ceilings are low when compared to western democracies. Political parties in the Russian Federation have a ceiling of 41,745,000 ($1,700,000) for campaign expenditures. In Canada, with a voting population of a fifth of Russia’s but a similar territory, political parties have a campaign ceiling of $7,500,000 for national elections. In Germany and Australia, there is no ceiling for political party spending. In the Russian Federation, the campaign ceiling for individual candidates is 1,669,800 rubles ($65,000). The only fine for violating campaign finance laws is to have the candidate’s registration papers cancelled or risk loosing your seat once elected. Amendments have been proposed in the Duma for the Presidential election to raise the campaign ceilings and to have a graded level of fines for less serious campaign finance violations. The CEC has plans to make campaign finance records public within 5 days as required by the State Duma law. The CEC plans to make these records available on the Internet at www.fci.ru. However, which records to put on the Internet is being studied as it is almost impossible to include all campaign records. The Duma Elections Law is so detailed that questions pertaining to campaign activities required the CEC to issue explanations in clarifying the campaign law itself.
The CEC intends to use other government ministries such as the Ministry of Taxation and the Ministry of Interior to assist in policing campaign finance compliance.
Recommendations:
- The massive amount of information the CEC will be receiving from the three campaign finance reports filed by the candidates, and blocs/associations should be well-organized in order for the more critical information to be made available in a readable format so the public can understand them. This would also provide more transparency.
- Prepare an analysis of the instructions the CEC has issued to the Saving Banks of the Russian Federation to determine if the incoming data from the Savings Banks is received in a compatible manner that will be easily transferred to the Internet;
- Prepare a report on what has been done in the international community on enforcement, proof of fraud, and how to investigate and prosecute in the area of campaign finance activities.
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