Elections in Russia

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On the federal level,

Since 1990, there have been seven elections for the presidency and seven for parliament. In the seven presidential elections, only once, in 1996, has a second round been needed. There have been three presidents, with Boris Yeltsin elected in 1991 and 1996, Vladimir Putin in 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2018 and Dmitry Medvedev in 2008. The Communist candidate (of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or the Communist Party of the Russian Federation) has finished second in every case: Nikolai Ryzhkov in 1991, Gennady Zyuganov in 1996, 2000 and 2008 and 2011, Nikolay Kharitonov in 2004 and Pavel Grudinin in 2018. Only in 1996 has there been a third candidate who gained more than 10% of the votes in the first round, Alexander Lebed.

In the parliamentary elections, the Communist Party was the largest party in the 1995 and 1999 elections, with 35% and 24% of the votes respectively. The

The President is elected in a two-round system every six years, with a limit of two consecutive terms.

• The president is elected on basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage through secret ballots.
• The president is to be elected for a term of six years
• Any citizen of the Russian Federation with 35 or more years of age and that has had a permanent residence for at least 10 years in Russia can run for the presidency in Russia.
• The same person may not be elected President of the Russian Federation for more than two terms running.[13]

Parliament

Legislative elections take place in Russia's 89 subjects of federation ranging from oblasts, republics, autonomous territories, and autonomous okrugs.^[14]

The elections for the State Duma of Russia are held every five years, and the dispute is for the 450 seats of the Parliament. Half of the seats are allocated through a proportional representation party list voting, with a threshold of 5%. The other half is appointed through majority voting, where one deputy is elected for one constituency. Regional assemblies with their respective deputies are formed through this system. The legislative body of Russia (the Federation Council and the State Duma) are subject to the articles 94-109 of the constitution, and these explain important points about the elections for the parliament in Russia, these are:

• The State Duma (lower house) is elected for a term of 5 years.
• Any citizen of the Russian Federation who is at least 21 years old can be a candidate.
• The president is to call the elections for the State Duma, in accordance with the Constitution.
• The Council of the Federation includes two representatives from each subject of the Russian Federation: one from the legislative and one from the executive body of state authority.^[15]

In May 2012 President Medvedev signed a new legislation exempting political parties from the need to collect signatures to run in parliamentary elections.^{[citation needed]}

Regional elections

Gubernatorial elections are held yearly and are to be called upon by the president. These happen in September, by default, on the second Sunday of the month, but the timing is not always exact. Campaigning starts 28 days prior to the election.^[16][17]

Governors

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2013)

Regional parliaments

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2013)

Local self-government elections

Elections for mayors in Russia are held in a small number of cities. In 2018, 12% of all cities and municipalities elected their mayors, as opposed to 65% in 2006; i.e. in the span of 12 years mayoral elections were halved.[18] Out of the subjects' capitals, only 9 of 83^{[clarification needed]} and (as of 2023) six 'major cities' have direct mayoral elections.^[19] In those cities, elections for mayors are direct and based on universal suffrage. The executions of mayoral elections are dependent upon higher administrative authorities, and, for instance, can be cancelled by governors.^[20][21]

Local legislative elections

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2013)

Evolution of Russia's electoral law

1993 (Constitution of 1993) – Article 97: Elections in Russia are direct, subject to universal suffrage, and free and fair

1995 – Amendment Article 97: Parties are now required to gather at least 200000 signatures and to sign for candidature no later than 6 months before the elections.^[22]

1998 – Constitutional Court Judgement 26-P: 5% threshold is upheld by the Russian constitutional court

2002 – Law number 175: Mixed election of the state Duma is implemented with 50% of seats elected by a majority system for single-seat district votes (one deputy-one seat), and the other 50% through a proportional representation party list voting scheme.^[23]

2003 – Mixed system is abolished for a fully proportional representation system, with a 7% threshold.

2013 – Putin requires a return to the old mixed system, making elections for parliament being subject to Law number 175 once again.^[24]

Criticism

Presidential influence

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, three successive administrations (Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, and Dmitry Medvedev) have played a significant role in forming a Russia's party system that has been characterized by the domination of a ruling party which is financed and staffed by choice of the current presidential administration, and which in return provides support to it to serve its interests.^[25]

One study from Reuter et al. referred to criticism of mayoral and local self-government election in Russia. Findings being indicated that mayor candidates opposing the present ruling party, United Russia, had their elections cancelled more easily than those that could promote support for the ruling party.^[21]

Another study from Enikolopov et al. performed an investigation where observers were strategically placed at polling stations to see the effect of their presence on United Russia's vote shares. Findings reveal that with observers, United Russia experienced an 11% loss in share of votes for the poll chosen.^[26]

2007 legislative elections

Since 1999, when Vladimir Putin became President of Russia there has been increasing international criticism of the conduct of Russian elections.^[27] European institutions who observed the December 2007 legislative elections concluded that these were not fair elections. Göran Lennmarker, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said that the elections "failed to meet many of the commitments and standards that we have. It was not a fair election."^[28] Luc Van den Brande, who headed a delegation from the Council of Europe, referred to the "overwhelming influence of the president's office and the president on the campaign" and said there was "abuse of administrative resources" designed to influence the outcome. He also said there were "flaws in the secrecy of the vote." "Effectively, we can't say these were fair elections," he said at a news conference.^[29]

In February 2008, the human rights organisation

The Russian government has acted to prevent international observers monitoring Russian elections. In 2007 the OSCE was prevented from monitoring the legislative elections held in December.^[32] In February 2008 the European Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights announced that it would not send observers to monitor the presidential election on 2 March, citing what it called "severe restrictions" imposed on its work by the Russian government. "We made every effort in good faith to deploy our mission, even under the conditions imposed by the Russian authorities", said Christian Strohal, the organization's director. "The Russian Federation has created limitations that are not conducive to undertaking election observation".^[33] The OSCE has also withdrawn its attempts to monitor the elections.

2011 legislative elections

The

In 2015, the OSCE called on the Russian government to respect and support the work of independent election observers. This followed a number of incidents where citizen observers were beaten or harassed during regional elections.^[37] There were also accusations of widespread voter nudging to increase attendance in unpopular or controversial votes by offering financial bonuses for everyone attending, such as free food, toys, etc.^[38]

2021 Russian legislative election

In the 2021 State Duma elections, the Putin appointed government headed by Mikhail Mishustin prevented OSCE observers from taking part in Russian elections. Citing COVID-19 restrictions, officials severely restricted their capacity and access.^[39][40][41]

2024 Russian presidential election

The United States criticized voting during

The Ukrainian foreign ministry called "to refrain from referring to this farce as 'elections' in the language of democratic states."[44] European Council president Charles Michel congratulated Putin for winning the election before the election officially concluded, adding that there was "No opposition. No freedom. No choice.”^[45]

Latest elections

Presidential

This section is an excerpt from 2024 Russian presidential election § Results.[edit]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Vladimir Putin	Independent[a]	76,277,708	88.48
	Nikolay Kharitonov	Communist Party	3,768,470	4.37
	Vladislav Davankov	New People	3,362,484	3.90
	Leonid Slutsky	Liberal Democratic Party	2,795,629	3.24
Total			86,204,291	100.00
Valid votes			86,204,291	98.43
Invalid/blank votes			1,371,784	1.57
Total votes			87,576,075	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			113,011,059	77.49
Source: Rapsi News, Bezformata

On 21 March, the CEC officially announced that Vladimir Putin had won the election, receiving 87.28% of all votes cast (including invalid ballots), followed by Nikolai Kharitonov with 4.31% of the vote, Vladislav Davankov with 3.85% and Leonid Slutsky with 3.20%.^[46]

Legislative

Notes

See also

• 2019 national electoral calendar
• Elections in the Soviet Union
• Electoral system
• Russian opposition
• Red Belt (Russia)
• Russian Republic
• Term limits in Russia

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elections in Russia.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Elections in Russia.

• OSCE reports on elections in Russia
• Geo-electoral structure of Russia (N.Grishin)