Voting Procedure
March 26, 2000
The Election of the President of the Russian Federation
Excerpts from the Federal Law «On the Election of the President of the Russian Federation»
A voter has the right to obtain an absentee certificate
Article 64. Absentee Certificate
A voter unable to come to the voting premises of the electoral precinct where he/she is included in the voters list shall be entitled to obtain an absentee certificate (in the event of the repeat voting - an absentee certificate without a detachable coupon) from a territorial election commission (45 - 25 days prior to voting day), a precinct election commission (24 days - 1 day prior to voting day and in the period from the day on which the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation declares the repeat voting to the day preceding the day of the repeat voting) and take part in the voting in the electoral precinct where this voter will be staying on voting day.
On the basis of a written application of a voter indicating the reasons why the voter needs an absentee certificate the election commission shall issue an absentee certificate either to the voter personally or to his/her representative provided with a notarized power of attorney. The power of attorney may also be certified by the administration of a hospital where the voter is undergoing medical treatment, by the administration of an institution where suspects or defendants are confined.
A voter or his/her representative shall sign for the receipt of an absentee certificate in the journal of issued absentee certificates (in a territorial election commission) or in the voters list (in a precinct election commission), indicating the series and number of his/her passport or equivalent identity paper. This voter shall be excluded from the voters list of the electoral precinct in the given election of the President of the Russian Federation and shall not be reckoned in the counting of the number of registered voters when the precinct election commission draws up its protocol.
An absentee certificate shall be valid if it has been stamped twice with the seal of a territorial or a precinct election commission and bears two signatures of the member of the territorial or precinct election commission who issued the absentee certificate, with the detachable coupon bearing one of the signatures and one of the seals. In the event of the repeat voting an absentee certificate shall be valid if it bears the seal of a territorial or precinct election commission and the signature of the member of a territorial or precinct election commission who issued the absentee certificate.
Upon presentation of an absentee certificate, a voter shall be put on the voters list in any other electoral precinct. If voting is conducted in the general election of the President of the Russian Federation, the detachable coupon shall be torn away from the absentee certificate presented by a voter. In the event of the repeat voting the absentee certificate shall be withdrawn. When receiving a ballot on the basis of an absentee certificate a voter shall indicate the address of his/her place of residence in the voters list.
Zoom
Date of issuance ________ __________________________, 2000
Article 65. Voting
Voting shall be conducted on a calendar non-working day from 8.00 to 20.00 local time.
Ballots shall be given to voters included in the voters lists upon presentation of a passport or an equivalent identity paper (a serviceman's card or an officer's identity card for persons who undergo military service, a certificate, other paper of a standard format issued by the internal affairs bodies, a foreign passport of the Russian Federation citizen for persons who permanently reside or currently stay outside the territory of the Russian Federation, a seaman's passport). Each voter shall be entitled to receive one ballot.
When receiving a ballot, a voter shall write the series and number of his/her passport or equivalent identity paper and put his/her signature in the voters list. With the consent or at the request of the voter the series and number of his/her passport or equivalent identify paper may be written in the voters list by any voting member of a precinct election commission. The voter shall check the correctness of the entry and shall sign for the receipt of a ballot.
If a voter is unable to sign for the receipt of a ballot by himself/herself, he/she may ask other persons to help him/her, if these persons are not members of the election commission, registered candidates, authorized representatives and agents of registered candidates, authorized representatives of an electoral association, electoral bloc, initiative voters' group which nominated a registered candidate, observers, foreign (international) observers. The person who helped the voter shall put his/her signature in the column «Voter's Signature for Receipt of Ballot» in the voters list indicating his/her first, middle and last name, the series and number of the passport or an equivalent identity paper.
A voter who is unable to mark the ballot by himself/herself may be assisted by another voter who is not a member of the election commission, a registered candidate, an authorized representative for financial matters or an agent of a registered candidate, an authorized representative of an electoral association, electoral bloc, initiative voters' group which nominated a registered candidate, observer, foreign (international) observer. In this case, the voter shall orally inform the election commission of his/her intention to ask for assistance in marking the ballot. 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 marked in the appropriate column (columns) of the voters list.
Each voter shall vote in person. Voting for other voters shall not be allowed. Ballots shall be marked in a specially equipped booth or in another specially equipped place or room for secret voting, where the presence of any other persons shall not be allowed.
If a voter thinks that he/she has made a mistake when marking a ballot, he/she may ask the election commission member who 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 note to this effect in the voters 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.
Voters shall drop marked ballots into a sealed stationary ballot box.
Zoom
| 
