Now in Russia political life is in full swing - on September 18, 2016, voters across the country will choose power. On this day, elections of governors and local authorities will be held in many constituent entities of the Russian Federation, but the selection of representatives to the lower house of the Russian Parliament still attracts the most attention.
Regulations for holding elections to the State Duma
Initially, the 2016 elections were supposed to take place on December 4, but due to various reasons it was decided to postpone them to autumn 2016. As a result, the deputies of the 6th convocation determined the voting date to be September 18, 2016, and a corresponding law was adopted. And on June 17, 2016, by presidential decree, this issue was finally closed and the parties began to prepare to conduct the election campaign.
As the law of the Russian Federation states, elections to the State Duma are held according to a proportional-majority system. In practice, this means that it will be possible to vote both for the party list and for party representatives in single-member districts. As a result, half of the State Duma will be formed from single-mandate members, and the other half will be delegated by political associations. To get into the State Duma under the proportional system, parties will have to overcome the 5 percent barrier, when both candidates in the districts will have enough simple majority votes.
At the beginning of 2016, there were almost 110 million voters in the Russian Federation, and taking into account citizens living outside Russia, there were already almost 112 million. All of them, as the law says, have the right to come on September 18, 2016 and vote for one or another candidate or political party. Elections will take place regardless of the number of voters.
Represented parties in the State Duma elections
Immediately after the presidential decree calling elections for September 18, 2016, the period for nominating candidates began, both by parties and self-nominated candidates in single-mandate constituencies. The law allocated 25 days for this procedure. And on July 13, voters found out who was among the candidates from party representatives and single-mandate constituencies in the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
In addition to 4 parliamentary parties - United Russia, A Just Russia, LDPR and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the electoral list included 11 more parties and movements.
The list of parties competing for votes is quite extensive. There are both patriotic and liberal movements here and, of course, centrist associations. From August 20 to September 16, there was official campaigning for certain parties and candidates in almost all media. Of course, the most “delicious” in this sense were the debates on television. In them, representatives of all parties defended their positions in heated debates, sometimes even going beyond the generally accepted rules.
Voter preferences and their breakdown by region
The election campaign for the State Duma elections is already nearing its end and it is already possible to make some predictions regarding their results. Judging by sociological polls, only 4 parliamentary parties will enter the State Duma of the 7th convocation. Debates and work on the ground have not changed anything in this sense. However, the picture on the ground is also very interesting. 
Sociologists, and just people who follow elections, are beginning to look most closely at the following regions:
- Moscow,
- Saint Petersburg,
- Yaroslavl region,
- Rostov region,
- Sverdlovsk and Novosibirsk regions,
- as well as the Primorsky Territory and the Republic of Bashkortostan.
According to tradition in St. Petersburg political life during the election campaign was especially hot. Previously, the city on the Neva was considered the main liberal outpost of the country, but now, judging by polls, support for liberal parties - Yabloko and the Party of Growth - balances here at 5 percent. Things are better in St. Petersburg than in the country as a whole in fair Russia - their electoral support here is 13-15 percent. Sociologists attribute this to the fact that the party managed to include many respected people in the city on its electoral list. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia in St. Petersburg are projected to gain a slightly lower percentage of votes compared to the total in the country - 12 and 9 percent.
United Russia rating on this moment in St. Petersburg it is 43 percent, but it could increase thanks to the votes of undecided citizens. They vote in St. Petersburg for representatives of United Russia, because this is the party of the president and for the continuation of stability. Other parties and political associations gain percentages in St. Petersburg in the range of statistical error.
As in the whole country, Moscow and the region are forecast to give preference to United Russia; the election list of the party in power and the president can gain up to 50 percent of the votes in the capital. A specific difference between the elections to the State Duma in Moscow is that the Yabloko party may take second place here. Some sociologists predict that representatives of this association may gain 15 percent. Growth parties and pensioners can also cross the 5 percent barrier. According to sociological polls, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, and Fair Russia will receive 14, 9 and 11 percent of the votes in the capital, respectively.
The Sverdlovsk region is also one of the significant regions where the elections on September 18, 2016 will be watched especially closely. Here the mood of the people practically coincides with the general preferences in the country. Most likely, representatives of a fair Russia will get a little more, who can count up to 15 percent. The range of support for the president's party (United Russia) is 45-50 percent.
The Sverdlovsk region will give approximately 10 percent each to candidates for deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party. Of the non-parliamentary opposition, only the Yabloko party can take the 5 percent barrier here, but only if it consolidates all its resources.
In Bashkortostan, the United Russia rating is traditionally higher than in the country as a whole. The president's party in this region can count on 65 percent of the vote. Judging by sociological surveys, representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia will gain quite a lot - up to 14 percent. But the LDPR rating in Bashkortostan is traditionally not high - the party is unlikely to cross the 5 percent threshold. But in the republic, candidates from the Rodina and Green parties will perform stronger in the elections to the State Duma than in the country as a whole.
In the Primorsky Territory, as well as in the whole Far East United Russia's rating is about 45 percent. The LDPR and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation traditionally have a large number of supporters in these regions - 20 percent. But the rating of the “Fair Russians” is very low, many attribute this to the low activity of this party. Other political associations are likely to get less than 3 percent of the votes, due to poor work with the local population.
Where can I get absentee ballots? Who can vote on them?
Provided that a person cannot vote on September 18, 2016 at his polling station, the law allows him to cast his vote in any other place in the Russian Federation. To do this, the voter must come to your polling station in advance and fill out a form in which you indicate why you will be absent on election day. After which he is given an absentee ballot.
You must have your passport with you at this moment. The law also allows a trusted person to do this. The minimum period for a voter to be able to issue an absentee ballot is 15 days before the day of elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, so you should make arrangements in advance so that the voter is included in the list so that he can vote in another subject of the Russian Federation.
Elections online. Where and how to watch online?
As everyone remembers, bring to online broadcast was the president's initiative before the previous elections. And although the law does not require this, in many regions and in these State Duma elections you can watch online what is happening at polling stations. It is known that local and regional websites, as well as the federal website webvyboryedg.ru, will cover the elections to the State Duma. The site will apparently begin to function on September 18, 2016. True, you can already make suggestions and wishes regarding his work.
Results of the State Duma elections
After the very western point Russia - Kaliningrad, the process of voting for candidates for deputies will end and the process of summing up the results of the State Duma elections will begin. Viewers can online mode monitor how the percentage of votes cast for one or another changes online via the Internet or via television. At this time, the Central Election Commission will process data from precinct commissions and immediately post it on the official website of the CEC. The preliminary election results will be known the next day. However, the final summing up may take until September 22, 2016. The new convocation of the lower house of parliament is scheduled to meet from October 3 to October 7, 2016.
In the fall of 2016, Russia will host the most unusual events last decade elections. The fundamental differences between this vote and previous ones are obvious: high competition, unprecedented scale and new rules for registering participants. The editors of our portal popularly explain the features of the upcoming elections.
Scale
The autumn voting in 2016 can rightfully be considered the largest in modern history Russia. The reason for this was not only the annexation of Crimea and, as a consequence, an increase in the number of potential voters. On the same day, deputies of the State Duma and heads of nine regions will be elected, as well as members of the Legislative Assemblies of 38 constituent entities of the Federation and parliamentarians of representative bodies of 11 regional capitals.
New composition of the Central Election Commission
Vladimir Churov, who served as chairman of the Central Election Commission since 2007, left his position at the end of March 2016. He was replaced by the famous human rights activist Ella Pamfilova (formerly the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia).
Petal model
This time, election organizers took a new approach to the “cutting” of electoral districts. A petal system was introduced, using which residents major cities found themselves in the same district as rural population. Apparently, a mixture of different social groups will allow for greater objectivity in voting.
Party competition
Representatives of 75 parties can take part in the 2016 Duma campaign. Of these, 14 political associations are exempt from the procedure for collecting signatures to nominate a candidate. Others will have to get the approval of 200 thousand residents of the country.
Return of single-mandate candidates
Elections to the State Duma in 2016 will be held according to a mixed system. 225 deputies will go to vote according to party lists, and another 225 - in single-mandate constituencies. According to experts, this will increase competition in elections and the level of responsibility of parliamentarians to the people.
New principle of candidate selection
Fundamental new way selection of potential deputies was used in United Russia. The party decided to abandon the practice of using “steam locomotives” and compiled a list of candidates based on the direct expression of the will of citizens - the results of the primaries. Both United Russia members and non-party members could vote.
Reducing the barrier to entry
Political parties that will participate in the 2016 State Duma elections will need to get 5% of the votes to get a seat in parliament, and not 7%, as was previously the case. It will be enough for single-mandate candidates to receive a simple majority of votes.
Observers
Observers at the upcoming elections will be given greater freedom than before. Thus, it will now be possible to remove an inspector from a polling station only by a court decision. In addition, the observer is allowed to take photographs and videos with prior notification to the chairman of the election commission. Previously, only journalists had this right.
New rules for campaigning
Candidates in single-mandate constituencies are required to personally participate in televised debates. According to experts, this will allow voters to better know potential deputies and navigate their election programs.
Crime filter
Potential State Duma deputies in the 2016 elections will have to provide information about all previous convictions. These data will appear in newsletters.
Moscow. September 19. website - On Monday, the majority of votes in the elections to the State Duma, local parliaments and heads of state were counted Russian regions, which took place throughout the country on the Unified Voting Day - September 18. The leaders in the voting for legislative bodies were again representatives of United Russia, and in the gubernatorial elections - the current heads of regions or those acting temporarily.
Other trends include the weakening of the positions of A Just Russia and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation due to the growing popularity of the LDPR among voters, low turnout for elections in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as a decrease in the number of violations during voting.
The final results of the elections to the State Duma of the seventh convocation will be summed up on Friday, September 23, but, according to the Central Election Commission, no significant changes should be expected regarding the already calculated results.
Changes
The main feature of this year's elections was the return of the mixed voting system - out of 450 deputies of the State Duma of the seventh convocation, 225 people are elected according to party lists and the same number are elected from single-mandate constituencies. At 95,836 polling stations throughout the country it was possible to vote for 14 political parties(listed in order of placement in the bulletin): "Motherland", "Communists of Russia", " Russian party pensioners for justice", "United Russia", "Greens", "Civil Platform", LDPR, PARNAS, "Growth Party", "Civil Force", "Yabloko", Communist Party of the Russian Federation, "Patriots of Russia" and "A Just Russia".
It is noteworthy that this year they also abandoned the practice of “locomotives”, when a popular and authoritative person (a high-ranking politician, athlete, actor, etc.) is put at the head of the list in elections under the proportional system, due to which the rating of his party and the number of votes cast for her voices are growing. Subsequently, the leader of the list renounces his mandate in favor of a less eminent party member.
Elections to the State Duma
As reported by the Central Election Commission (CEC of the Russian Federation), based on the results of counting 93.1% of the protocols, United Russia receives 140 seats in the State Duma according to party lists and 203 seats in single-mandate constituencies. Thus, according to preliminary data, United Russia will have 343 seats in the State Duma out of 450 (that is, 76.2%).
The ruling party received the most votes in regions with the maximum turnout at polling stations: for example, 88% in Dagestan, 81.67% in Karachay-Cherkessia, 77.71% in Kabardino-Balkaria, 77.57% in the Kemerovo region. In some regions, United Russia, although it became the leader of the vote, did not achieve such high results. So, in Chelyabinsk region they voted for her, and in Moscow -.
Thus, United Russia can already count on a constitutional majority in the State Duma (more than two-thirds of the seats), which will allow the party to adopt amendments to the Constitution (with the exception of a few chapters), as well as override the presidential veto.
The second party in terms of the number of mandates, according to preliminary data, turns out to be the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. According to party lists, she receives 13.45% of the votes - that is, 35 mandates; in single-mandate constituencies - seven mandates. The LDPR follows with a small margin - for it there is one federal district 13.24% voted, which corresponds to 34 mandates; according to single-member lists, this party receives five mandates. "A Just Russia" received 6.17% of the votes on party lists, and received seven seats in parliament on single-mandate lists.
The majority of the lower house of the Russian parliament will remain largely four-party, and even lowering the barrier to entry into the State Duma from 7% to 5% did not help non-parliamentary parties qualify on all-party lists. Only Rodina and Civic Platform will be able to get one seat each in the lower house, since two of their candidates were able to win in their single-mandate constituencies. In addition, the State Duma will include one self-nominated candidate - Vladislav Reznik.
Elections of regional heads
As part of the Single Voting Day, elections of heads of nine regions were also held - in Komi, Tuva, Chechnya, the Trans-Baikal Territory, as well as in the Tver, Tula and Ulyanovsk regions. At the same time, in North Ossetia-Alania and Karachay-Cherkessia heads of regions are elected by regional parliaments.
To win in the first round, a candidate needed to get more than 50% of the votes. Sergei Gaplikov succeeded in this, for whom 62.17% of voters voted. A clear leader was also identified in Chechnya - after counting 93.13% of the ballots, it turned out that almost 98% of those who came to the elections voted for the acting head of the region, and his closest rival, Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs of Chechnya Idris Usmanov, received only 0.83% votes.
Self-nominated Alexey Dyumin, acting head Tula region, based on the results of processing 100% of the protocols, he scored 84.17%, and the current head of the Republic of Tuva, Sholban Kara-ool, scored 86%. The situation was similar in the Trans-Baikal Territory - the candidate from United Russia, acting governor Natalya Zhdanova received 54.22% of the votes, and in the Ulyanovsk region - acting governor Sergei Morozov, nominated by United Russia, based on the results of processing 82% of the protocols of election commissions , received 53.91% of the votes. Acting Governor of the Tver Region Igor Rudenya was also a leader in his region.
Elections to regional authorities
In 39 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, elections to regional parliaments were held, in particular, in Adygea, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Karelia, Mordovia, Chechnya, Chuvashia, in the Altai, Kamchatka, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Primorsky and Stavropol territories; in the Amur, Astrakhan, Vologda, Kaliningrad, Kirov, Kursk, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Omsk, Orenburg, Oryol, Pskov, Samara, Sverdlovsk, Tambov, Tver, Tomsk and Tyumen regions; in St. Petersburg, in the Jewish Autonomous Region, in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug- Ugra and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
As part of the Single Voting Day, they also elected the head of the city of Kemerovo, deputies of municipal assemblies in the capitals of 11 regions - in Ufa, Nalchik, Petrozavodsk, Saransk, Grozny, Perm, Stavropol, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Saratov and Khanty-Mansiysk.
The head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said that they received a total of 16 seats in regional parliaments across the country. Thus, Patriots of Russia received four mandates, Yabloko - five, Party of Growth and Pensioners for Justice - three each, and Rodina - one.
Turnout by country
For Russians who find themselves outside their homeland during elections, polling stations are traditionally organized abroad. Nevertheless, the President of Ukraine ordered to inform Russia about the impossibility of holding elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation on Ukrainian territory. Kiev said it could change its position if Moscow refuses to hold elections in Crimea, which Ukraine considers occupied territory. Nevertheless, Russians were able to vote at the embassy in Kyiv and the consulate general in Odessa, but the process of expressing their will was accompanied by unrest. There were no violations of law and order in Lvov and Kharkov. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called not to recognize the results of the State Duma elections in terms of voting in Crimea.
At about 10 a.m., the head of the Central Election Commission, Pamfilova, announced the turnout for the current elections as 47.81%. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that it cannot be called low, and added that it turned out to be “higher than the overwhelming majority of European countries" and "does not affect the election results themselves, or their credibility."
The highest voter turnout was demonstrated by the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and Kabardino-Balkaria - more than 90%, Dagestan - more than 87%, as well as the Kemerovo and Tyumen regions - 74.3% and Chechnya.
The lowest voter turnout rates were also in St. Petersburg, which Peskov called a traditional phenomenon. Thus, in the capital, 35.18% of the electorate went to the polls, which is significantly less than during the parliamentary elections of 2003, 2007 and 2011. The Moscow City Election Commission suggested that turnout was affected by cold weather and rain, as well as poor work by parties with voters.
According to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, in Moscow, United Russia is gaining 37.3% of the votes, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation - 13.93%, the Liberal Democratic Party - 13.11%, Yabloko - 9.51%, A Just Russia - 6.55% .
Turnout was even lower than in Moscow - 32.47%.
Violations
According to Pamfilova, every third message is related to illegal actions, every fifth is a complaint about falsification of voting results or impending mass falsifications. “Several requests have been received from observers about their dismissal by the employer in connection with participation in the election campaign. This needs to be taken under special control - the prosecutor’s office will definitely not be left without work,” she said.
One of these violations - stuffing of ballot papers by the secretary of the precinct election commission (PEC) in the Rostov region - has already led to an outbreak. Even on voting day, a video from a surveillance camera appeared on the Internet, which shows two women and a man blocking the view of the box, and another woman putting a stack of ballots inside.
Also, a serious incident was recorded in Dagestan - a group of young people destroyed a polling station during voting under the pretext that there was a massive stuffing of ballots in favor of one of the candidates.
In addition, the elections in one of the polling stations in the Nizhny Novgorod region were declared invalid, and in three more polling stations in the Rostov region the results were in doubt. A camera phone left by one of the observers helped record the dumping of ballots, and now the voting results at that precinct have been cancelled.
On September 18, Russians elected deputies to the State Duma: 225 deputies from party lists and the same number from single-mandate constituencies. 14 parties took part in the elections, average competition in single-member districts there were about 14 people per seat.
In 39 regions Russian Federation regional parliaments were simultaneously elected. Governors were elected in nine regions, seven of them by universal suffrage (Komi, Chechnya, Tyva, Trans-Baikal Territory, Tula, Tver, Ulyanovsk region). The parliament elected the heads of the two subjects, and the result became known in the afternoon, when polling stations were opened throughout the country. In North Ossetia, the parliament elected the head of the republic Vyacheslav Bitarova, in Karachay-Cherkessia - Rashida Temrezova.
In general, compared to the previous expression of will in 2011, the elections passed calmly. Although there were some incidents. First of all, the case concerned the so-called “carousels”, when the same people vote several times using absentee ballots. different areas. Even buses carrying carousel drivers were seen. Such cases were recorded by observers in Moscow, the Moscow region, and Karelia. The most alarming situation has developed in the Altai Territory. Chairman of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova during the day she did not even rule out canceling the regional election results. In several regions, cases of voter bribery and ballot stuffing were observed. Three hours before the end of voting at one of the polling stations Krasnodar region civil activists even managed to photograph the completed final protocol. As Ella Pamfilova promised, all complaints will be carefully considered.
Perhaps the main result was the low turnout. Typically, at least half of voters turn out to vote at the federal level. For comparison, in 2007, 63.71% of those eligible to vote came to the ballot boxes, in 2011 - 60.1%. Now, judging by the first data, only 41%. The North Caucasus showed, as always, high activity. But in the Irkutsk region, Transbaikal region, and Chita region, only about a third of voters came to express their will. The situation is not much better in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Even in Crimea, where deputies of the Russian parliament were elected for the first time, less than half voted. Overall, in major cities sometimes less than a third voted, in rural areas this figure is higher.
According to exit polls (polls at polling stations), the United Russia party is in the lead with 44.5%, followed by the LDPR with 15.3%, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation 14.9%, A Just Russia 8.1%, Yabloko has 3.5%, Communists of Russia - 2.6%, Rodina party - 2.3%. Obviously, United Russia took first place, although it could not get more than half of the votes. Due to the poll's margin of error, it is difficult to say who came in second place. In Moscow, polls showed that United Russia had 36%, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation 13%, Yabloko and the Liberal Democratic Party 12% each, and the Socialist-Revolutionaries 6%.
By 22:00 Moscow time, the Russian Central Election Commission had processed 9.9% of the ballots. "United Russia" has 45.95%, the LDPR has 17.40%, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has 16.77%, and "A Just Russia" has 6.35%. Next come (but do not pass) “Communists of Russia” (2.84%), Party of Pensioners (2.08%), “Rodina” (1.44%), “Yabloko” (1.36%).
“There are no big surprises yet, all four parliamentary parties are entering the Duma,” says political scientist Pavel Svyatenkov.
— There will be intrigue around single-mandate candidates. Parties that have a good result on the lists may lose their positions after the votes in single-mandate constituencies are counted. Now, tentatively, the LDPR ranks second on the lists, but it can hold fewer deputies in single-mandate constituencies than the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
The low result of A Just Russia is noteworthy. Overcoming the 3% barrier by Yabloko gives the party the right to receive government funding. PARNAS is gaining little - despite a brilliant campaign, people did not vote for them.
“SP”: — How to understand low turnout?
— The authorities did not want such a scenario. They wanted to win relatively fairly, albeit with low turnout in major cities. At the same time, the “party in power” will take its own in regions such as Chechnya or Kemerovo region. The protest middle class, primarily in Moscow, remained neutral, which is beneficial for the authorities.
Low turnout, of course, speaks of a crisis of confidence in political system. But this is a postponed crisis for now. In many ways, the authorities are counting on exactly this. Yes, there is, they say, a disease, but it has been driven deep, now there will be no relapse. This is the most important thing for the authorities. The next elections should be easier, since the authority Vladimir Putin high enough. This means that the crisis is postponed indefinitely, which generally suits everyone.
“The peculiarity of these elections is that almost all parties conducted almost no election campaigns, especially in the regions,” notes Director of the Institute of Regional Problems Dmitry Zhuravlev.
— In the village, people are traditionally disciplined; they still came to the ballot boxes. In large cities, people often saw nothing but a few LDPR banners. Well, people have enough worries of their own. If those who are elected do not need it, then do those who elect need it?
Secondly, United Russia is winning, and many knew this in advance. Competitions where first place is predetermined are not of such interest. Opposition-minded citizens do not believe in the possibility of change, and those who support the “party in power” even more so do not want to go. This was very clearly visible in the late Soviet times. Those who supported Soviet power, did not go anywhere, considered power eternal.
If we talk about the legitimacy of the new Duma, then it can be considered legitimate. In the end, those who didn’t want to didn’t come. But there is no turnout threshold in the law.
Another thing is that the new Duma will have to think about what to do. Maybe we'll have to return the "Against all" column. It is possible that the election law needs to be further liberalized. Although today we see that a bunch of new parties have registered, nominated candidates, but are not really active.
“SP”: — Can we say that the elections revealed some hidden discontent?
— Suppressed discontent is always harmful. But people are usually looking not for revolutions, but for bread. If discontent has not found a way out, this does not mean that the election results need to be rewritten.
“SP”: — How important is it for parties to have an extensive regional network?
— It all depends on the task. For protest voting on the principle of “you need to vote for someone,” local branches are not needed. The LDPR always wins on this. This is a party that is pro-government in fact, but opposition in style. You don't need a device to criticize.
For those who offer their own program, a device is needed. But does everyone offer an alternative? The device can work, or it can deal exclusively with itself. On the other hand, if the device is not efficient enough, then there is no point in changing it when the result is generally good.
The next elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation will be held September 18, 2016. Previously, elections were scheduled for December of the same year, but in mid-2015 they decided to carry them out for various reasons.
The proportional system, according to which elections were held in previous convocations, has sunk into oblivion. It is being replaced by a majoritarian-proportional system. As a result, half of the people's representatives will enter the Duma on the lists of their parties, and the second half will fight for the right to receive the honorary title of “deputy” in their single-mandate constituencies.
The current elected representatives of the people, who want to continue their legislative activities in the halls of the State Duma, have already begun the preparatory stage for the start of the election campaign. Consultative negotiations with the Kremlin are in full swing, and after the nationwide celebration of the 70th anniversary Great Victory many of the current deputies will begin to choose a single-mandate constituency for their “hilling”. Experienced parliamentarians know that “the sooner you sow, the more you reap.”
Young political forces have not yet been noticed in particular election activity. Perhaps they think it’s too early, or maybe they don’t want to irritate their more eminent competitors in advance.
As of mid-September 2014, 14 parties vying for participation in the 2016 election race exempt from the need to collect signatures. In addition to the current representatives of the State Duma, this list includes:
List of parties elected to the State Duma in 2016
- "Just Cause";
- "Civic Platform";
- Russian Party of Pensioners “For Justice”;
- RPR-PARNASUS;
- "Civil Power";
- "Apple";
- "Patriots of Russia";
- "Communists of Russia";
- "Motherland";
- "Green Party".
According to political analysts, from current composition of the deputy corps from the United Russia party, no more than fifty people have a chance to be elected in single-mandate constituencies. Therefore, the party leadership and curators in the Kremlin have already given instructions to their representatives in the regions, as well as activists "People's Front", after local elections in September, intensify the search for worthy candidates for the seventh convocation of the State Duma of Russia.
This task was sent to the localities for a reason; the whole point is that most of the United Russia members of the current composition of the deputy corps do not have practical skills in working with voters in the regions.
It is planned that a specially created analytical department of United Russia will monitor active applicants on the ground and ultimately select the best among them. After this procedure, the active phase of “promotion” of the selected activists will begin. At the beginning of 2015, they will begin to “shine” at various significant events and events in the territories entrusted to them and speak on behalf of their native party. But this does not mean that they will become “untouchable”. Each of these activists may have a backup, and if the main contender fails or his rating is low among local voters, an “updated version” of the candidate from the “party in power” will appear on the “stage.”
After the adoption of the new Law on Elections in Society great importance will play personal qualities future politicians. Since half of the parliamentary corps will consist of single-mandate voters, the candidates will be those who have charisma, have good oratorical skills and know how to answer questions from voters. In addition, the number of candidates will include “people of action” - successful industrialists and entrepreneurs who have proven their ability to achieve success beyond words.
And some interesting facts from the history of elections in Russia:
— Only three political forces took part in all six election campaigns to the State Duma - LDPR, Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Yabloko;
— The parties that managed to obtain deputy mandates in all six convocations were only the LDPR and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation;
— Three representatives of Russian political forces managed to recruit greatest number votes during elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation: in 1993 - LDPR; in 1995 and 1999 - the Communist Party of the Russian Federation; in 2003, 2007 and 2011 - United Russia.
