|
We are glad to welcome all of you who are interested in elections in the Russian Federation. This website’s objective is to provide the information of activities of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and election commissions of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, along with the accurate and current information on elections and referenda. We hope that you have notices the changes not only in the website’s interface and design, but also in its internal structure.
The news page is updated daily. The Current Topics section covers the most essential and interesting materials. The same section also includes comprehensive information on the previous and upcoming election campaigns, along with the access to legislative acts on elections and referenda, the information on political parties, texts of statements by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, and other materials.
A special resource is designed for visitors with poor vision. There is also the version of the website in English.
A few words on the 2009 elections: This year, over 10,000 election campaigns have been held, while universal voting days were held in constituent entities of the Russian Federation on March 1 and October 11.
The total of over 63 thousand mandates was replaced, with some 130 thousand candidates running for these mandates. All of the seven political parties registered in Russia, too part in the elections.
For the first time, local government elections were held in the Chechen Republic and in the Republic of Ingushetia.
Deputies into 12 legislative (representative) state bodies were elected in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic and the Karachaevo-Cherkess Republic, in the Republic of Mari El, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Republic of Khakassia, the Arkhangelsk, Bryans, Vladimir, Volgograd, and Tula Regions, in Moscow and in the Nenets Autonomous Region.
Heads of municipal entities were elected including those of 13 administrative centres – cities of Anadyr, Astrakhan, Birobidzhan, Blagoveshchensk, Grozny, Murmansk, Novosibirsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Smolensk, Tomsk, Chita, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
The elections included deputies in representational self-governance bodies including deputies of representational bodies of 22 administrative centres – cities of Anadyr, Arkhangelsk, Birobidzhan, Blagoveshchensk, Bryansk, Vologda, Grozny, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Yoshkar-Ola, Kurgan, Magas, Murmansk, Narian-Mar, Penza, Salekhard, Tver, Ulan-Ude, Khabarovsk, Chelyabinsk, Chita, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
Active participation of the electorate when compared to previous similar elections in regions grew in the whole. Election campaigns were on a larger scale. The activities in 2009 resulted in elections of representatives of regional and municipal authorities.
Particular attention was given by electoral commissions to their work with voters, i.e. to informing the electorate of the course of elections and to reviewing addresses from individual citizens. In addition to traditional “hotlines” for communication with the voters, the reception office of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation was open for voters as well. For the first time ever, on the day of elections, and when summing up results of the vote, any complaints from political parties were submitted directly to the personal cell phone of the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. All callers were able to receive the qualified and detailed answers and explanations, which was also accompanied with the prompt turnaround in resolving any possible issues. As a result of this work, the procedure of dealing with complaints and inquiries of individuals was improved.
In the course of the election campaign we continued experimental work on applying GLONASS satellite systems (Bratsk District in Irkutsk Region), Gonets programs, and on holding electronic voter balloting (Kingisepp in the Leningrad Region) in the course of the election. The information on the course and results of these experimental applications has been widely presented by the mass media and on our website.
In December this year, we entered into the agreement on collaboration in use of satellite navigation communications systems and technologies executed between the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and the Federal Space Agency. The objective of this agreement is to increase the efficiency of operations of election commissions.
The use of modern information technologies, including those with the use of Internet is the mainline direction of the electoral process improvement. For instance, the streaming live broadcast of the course of the election was arranged online, from the remotely located polling stations, with the use of web cameras, during regional elections in the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Stavropol Territory, in the Vladimir, Volgograd, Rostov, Novosibirsk, Tomsk Regions, and the Yamal-Nenets District.
For the first time the meeting held by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation in November this year on preparation for elections planned on March 14, 2010, was broadcast live and online.
Now, we are not only involved in preparations of the programs for the accelerated technical upgrade of the electoral system, but we also starting to implement it at the same time. The objectives set out by President of Russia D. A. Medvedev in his address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on November 12, 2009, on improvement of electoral and political systems, “technological assurance” of political competition, must be reached with quality and within the shortest possible time.
The training of personnel for electoral campaigns plays a critical role in assurance of the election legitimacy. With this in mind, for the first time in 2009, a series of sessions was held together with chairmen of election commissions of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, in seven federal precincts, with the most recent one held on October 28, 2009, in the Far-Eastern Federal Precinct. These sessions were also attended by heads of local administrations, law enforcement and judicial agencies, prosecutors’ offices and political parties. We are satisfied with the open discussion of issues arising in the course of election campaigns in regions. Late November, in Moscow, the training was organized and held for members of the regional election commissions, chairmen of election commissions of municipalities, staff employees of there commissions in issues of legal support of the election process, thus moving along with the active preparation for the upcoming elections.
On March 14, 2010, on the universal election day in constituent entities of the Russian Federation, it is planned to elect deputies in legislative (representational) bodies of state power in eight entities of the Russian Federation: the Republic of Altai, the Khabarovsk Territory, the Voronezh, Kaluga, Kurgan, Ryazan, Sverdlovsk Regions and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region.
The heads of municipalities shall be elected, including mayors of cities of Elista, Krasnodar, Irkutsk, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, and Ulyanovsk. In Orel, the elections shall be held on February 14, 2010.
The elections will also include voting for deputies of local self-government representational authorities, including cities – administrative centres of seven constituent entities of the Russian Federation: Astrakhan, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Novosibirsk, Smolensk, Tula, and Ulyanovsk.
Materials on the course of election campaigns will be made available on the website of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and on websites of election commissions of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Our principal objective in 2010 is to prepare and hold elections at a high level, while websites of election commissions must ensure the informational transparency of election campaigns.
Another direction in activities of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and election commissions of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, which has been actively developing over the course of recent years, include exhibitions and expos which present the development of Russia as a democracy, along with the improvement of its electoral system. For instance, on the website, one could find information on exhibitions titled, Time moving ahead! The Choice of the Young; Space – ELECTIONS – Communications; Individuals and Ethnicities of Russia: Archetypes of the Electorate; Technological Equipment for Elections. The exhibition, Equal Opportunities to Equal Rights, is dedicated to issues on assurance of the suffrage to voters with limited physical abilities. This work will continue in 2010, along with the preparation of new exhibitions and displays.
The political practice demonstrated viability of the Russian electoral system. We are well aware that in order to ensure holding free democratic, honest and open elections, the political will is required along with the sense of responsibility on the part of both the organizers of elections, and their participants. Each candidate, every political party has their own voters, even though the preferences of the latter may change. Therefore, it is critical to continue improving on the level of political culture in the course of the election campaigns, along with acquisition of skills of inter-party dialogue. It is important to learn to get the power as well as to leave it based on the expressed will of the people. The accord and the unity of the entire society are the essential pre-requisites for it. Without these, it is impossible to form the power in Russia. It is truly a pre-requisite for the continued national development.
Dear visitors to the website of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation:
While summing up results of this year, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone, who, together with the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, participated in implementation of our joint plans, and I am hoping for our continued cooperation in the future.
The past year has been filled with events and developments in electoral sphere, both challenging and exciting. We have managed to resolve numerous issues, yet we have also witnessed new challenges arise which we shall have to tackle in 2010.
I am hoping that you will find the information presented at this website of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation both interesting and useful.
Welcome to the website of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation!
Vladimir Churov
|
