Why the elections were postponed to March 18. Additional incentive for voters

In the law "On the election of the President of the Russian Federation." They will allow holding the next presidential elections in 2018 on the day of the return of Crimea to Russia - March 18. In 2018, the date of the presidential election will fall on the week in which the non-working holiday date falls - International Women's Day on March 8.

In this case, the law on presidential elections in Russia provides for the postponement of the election date a week ahead, that is, on Sunday, March 4. But the deputies proposed to postpone the elections not a week ahead of this date, but to Sunday next week, Interfax explains.

The authors of the bill are Andrei Klishas, ​​Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, and Anatoly Shirokov, member of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Self-Government and Northern Affairs.

Other innovations of the bill include the liberalization of the electoral legislation, the abolition of absentee ballots and the simplification of the collection of signatures in elections, as well as an increase in fines for electoral violations. At the same time, according to the new amendments, it is not necessary for an observer from a party to be attached to only one polling station. This approach will ensure maximum openness and transparency of the work of election commissions.

It is also proposed that those who cannot be at their place of residence on voting day, no later than three days before the election date, can apply by phone or in the form of an electronic appeal to vote at their place of residence to the Application Processing Center being created by the CEC of Russia. If more than one application is received from a citizen, then all repeated ones are rejected.

For repeated voting by the same voter, as well as for organizing such voting, it is proposed to establish a fine of 30 thousand rubles. It is also proposed to increase the fine for issuing more than one voting ballot to a citizen from 3,500 to 30,000 rubles. Responsibility for repeated administrative offense will be 50 thousand rubles.

In addition, it is proposed to subdivide the polling stations: reducing the maximum number of voters at the polling station to 1,500 people.

In addition, the amendments propose to allow journalists to be present at all meetings of the election commission, as well as during the counting of votes and when working with documents, who will be able to take photographs and videos.

If the amendments are adopted, changes will be made not only to the law on presidential elections in Russia, but also to the Code of Administrative Offenses, and the law "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation."

By law, presidential elections are held on the second Sunday in March. According to the amendments approved today, if the second Sunday is a combined, post-holiday or working day due to the postponement of holidays, then the voting day is moved to the third Sunday of the month.

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In 2018, the second Sunday of March is the 11th, and according to the proposal of the Ministry of Labor to postpone the days off, March 11 will just be the fourth day off - 8,9,10,11. Thus, the presidential elections can be postponed to the next Sunday of the month - March 18.

The bill was submitted to the Duma by Andrey Klishas, ​​Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, and Senator Anatoly Shirokov. They believe that the new rules will increase the transparency of elections at all levels, simplify the approach to appointing observers, and improve the accessibility of polling stations.

Among other things, the bill provides for the abolition of absentee ballots in presidential elections. It is understood that citizens who are not at the place of registration on the voting day will be able to apply for inclusion in the lists at the place of residence.

The procedure for submitting an appeal will be determined by the CEC, and the information will be transferred to the election commission at the place of permanent registration of the voter, which will remove the person from its list.

In addition, it is proposed to create a single database of all submitted applications in order to exclude the possibility of one voter submitting several applications. The amendments also provide for tougher penalties for violations of electoral procedures. For example, for repeated voting by the same person, as well as for organizing such frauds, a fine of 30 thousand rubles is provided.

The fines for the illegal issuance of a ballot to provide an opportunity to vote instead of the voter, for the issuance and receipt of a completed form are also increasing - up to 30 thousand rubles.

The bill also simplifies the procedure for appointing observers to polling stations: election participants will not be able to send lists of observers to election commissions. In addition, observers will be able to be in several polling stations rather than one.

The authors of the bill also propose to consolidate the right to conduct video surveillance and broadcast from the sites. At the same time, the list of organizations that will be able to do this will be expanded - in addition to traditional media, it will include online publications.

In addition, observers will be able to take photos and videos in the polling station. To do this, they will have to notify the chairman or secretary of the precinct commission about this.

The amendments also exclude from the law a five-year term for the formation of polling stations and establish the possibility of revising the list and boundaries of such facilities. Election organizers will be able to reduce the maximum number of voters in a particular polling station from three to one and a half thousand people.

The authors of the bill believe that such measures will allow the formation of a greater number of polling stations, which will increase their accessibility for Russians. In addition, this should reduce the burden on members of precinct election commissions.

Adopted in the first reading a package of amendments to the electoral legislation, correcting the current electoral process. For the initiators of the changes, members and, this was a kind of result of the “work on mistakes” that the legislators carried out together with the chairman following the results of the 2016 elections. It is assumed that if the amendments are adopted, this will make the elections more transparent and convenient for voters.

The initiative implies a number of changes to the electoral legislation. For example, according to the document, it will be easier for candidates for the presidential elections to send their observers. If the law is adopted in its current form, then applicants for the highest office in Russia will not have to send lists of observers to the election commissions in advance. The requirement to send one observer to one polling station has also been cancelled. Interestingly, even in the explanatory note to the bill, this approach is called "more liberal".

The bill also proposes to completely abandon absentee ballot voting. Recall that now, before voting at a polling station not at the place of registration, a citizen must first visit the commission to which he is assigned and receive an absentee certificate there. This greatly complicates the ability to vote, for example, students living and studying in Moscow, but registered in another region. How exactly this mechanism will work will be determined by the CEC.

As Gazeta.Ru wrote, the possibility of creating a special information center under the Central Election Commission is being worked out, which will accept applications from citizens to vote in a particular polling station and enter the relevant data into the GAS Vybory system.

So far, there is no single consensus in society as to whether this rule will help in the fight against the so-called "carousels" or potentially expand the possibilities of falsification. Much depends on how exactly the CEC will work out the mechanism.

A Gazeta.Ru source close to the drafting of the bill reports that by the second reading, the law may be amended to introduce a mixed voting system outside the place of registration, both with and without absentee ballots. However, the interlocutor of the publication did not specify how exactly this will be done.

According to the bill, the requirements for data collected in support of candidates are simplified. For example, now a signature can be rejected by the relevant commissions if it does not contain, for example, an indication of the district in which the signatory lives. According to the document adopted in the first reading, if some data is missing, but this does not prevent "an unambiguous perception, taking into account the actual duties of the voter's place of residence", then the signature is accepted. For example, if the city of Adler is specified Krasnodar Territory without specifying the Adlerovsky district, then the signature must be accepted - there are no other Adlers in the region.

In practice, this should make life easier for self-nominated candidates, who at the moment cannot be sure that even honestly collected signatures will pass all the checks in the commissions.

A clause was also added according to which, if the second Sunday of March is a combined, post-holiday working day due to the postponement of the date of public holidays, then the elections are shifted to the next, third Sunday of the month. Thus, in 2018, citizens will elect the president on March 18. Recall that this is the anniversary of the entry of Crimea into the Russian Federation, which, as a rule, is celebrated with public, albeit informal, celebrations.

According to political scientist Abbas Gallyamov, the bill has several main goals.

The item on the abolition of absentee ballots, firstly, is aimed at increasing the turnout, and secondly, it will help put on the agenda the thesis that the authorities are not tightening, but unwinding the screws. This will also be helped by the clause canceling the obligatory registration of observers three days before the elections.

“With discontent growing, the news that the Kremlin is softening the electoral law is just what we need. It will appeal to both ordinary voters and the parliamentary opposition,” Gallyamov explains.

In addition, according to the expert, these innovations will not change the real state of affairs much, and the Kremlin does not risk anything.

Recall that, according to Gazeta.Ru, now the issues of the presidential campaign have fallen on the shoulders of representatives of a new domestic political bloc led by the first deputy head of the administration.

The amendments were introduced by senators Andrei Klishas and Anatoly Shirokov on March 3. In 2018, the presidential election falls on the week of International Women's Day on March 8th. So that voters are not distracted by the celebration of the fair sex, the elections were proposed to be postponed to March 18 - in this case, they will coincide with the holiday of the reunification of Russia with Crimea.

Among other innovations of the amendments is the abolition of absentee ballots. It is assumed that citizens who are not at the place of registration on the day of voting can be included in the list of voters at the place of residence on the basis of an application. They have the right not later than three days before the date of voting by telephone or in the form of an electronic appeal to submit an application for voting at their location to the Center for processing applications created by the CEC of Russia.

In order to exclude the possibility of submitting several applications by one voter, a single database will be created with information about all submitted applications. If more than one application is received from one citizen, all repeated ones are rejected.

As the ER faction explained, for those voters who cannot meet the deadline to notify the election commission, 500 universal polling stations will be created in the country, where it will be possible to do this right on the voting day.

The amendments also stipulate the introduction of mandatory broadcasting from polling stations. In addition, it is proposed to prohibit the rejection of signatures due to the fact that voters indicated an incomplete home address.

At the same time, for the abuse of the rights granted, for dishonest actions in connection with the elections, administrative liability is established. For repeated voting by the same person, as well as for organizing such voting, it is proposed to establish a fine of 30 thousand rubles. The same fine is due for the issuance of a ballot in order to provide an opportunity to vote instead of a voter.

Responsibility for a repeated administrative offense will amount to 50 thousand rubles.

The rules for observers are also simplified. The requirement to forward their list to the electoral commission in advance is excluded. Also, the rule of obligatory dispatch of an observer to only one polling station is cancelled. According to the authors of the document, this approach will significantly increase the number of observers and ensure maximum openness and transparency of the work of election commissions.

Another innovation is the disaggregation of polling stations, which is necessary for the maximum convenience of voters. It is planned to reduce the maximum number of voters at each of them to 1.5 thousand people.

"The bills brought to our attention are a real revolution in the electoral legislation," said Victor Pinsky, a member of the State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation ("ER").

Maximum use in the electoral process of modern information technologies significantly reduces the risks of abuse of rights by voters, - commented on the amendments to "RG" member of the State Duma Committee on Regulations Alexei Kobilev ("ER"). - A wide coverage of polling stations by means of video surveillance will make the elections transparent and public.