Has the decision to call elections been published? Grounds and procedure for calling elections. Deadlines for calling elections at various levels. Subjects of the right to call elections
Under this Federal Law, bodies or deputies are appointed by an authorized body or official.
3. On the day of voting in elections to government bodies of the constituent entities Russian Federation, local self-government bodies is the second Sunday of September of the year in which the terms of office of the said bodies or deputies of the said bodies expire, and if the terms of office expire in the year of elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the next convocation, the voting day at the said elections, with the exception cases provided for in paragraphs 4 of this article.
4. In the event of early termination of powers of bodies or deputies specified in paragraph 3 of this article, entailing the incompetence of the body, early elections must be held no later than six months from the date of such early termination of powers, with the exception of early elections of the highest official subject of the Russian Federation (head of the highest executive body state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation), which are held taking into account the deadlines for calling elections, provided for in paragraph 7 of this article, on the nearest second Sunday in September after such early termination of powers, and in the year of elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the next convocation - on voting day in the said elections.
(see text in the previous edition)
5. Elections to government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, newly formed in accordance with the federal constitutional law, federal law, constitution (charter) of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, are scheduled for the second Sunday in September, and in the year of elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation the next convocation - on the day of voting in the said elections or on another day in accordance with the federal constitutional law, federal law, decree of the President of the Russian Federation.
(see text in the previous edition)
5.1. Elections to local government bodies of a newly formed municipal entity must be held no later than six months from the date of its creation.
6. Voting in elections can only be scheduled for Sunday. It is not permitted to schedule voting on a non-working holiday, on the day preceding it, on the day following a non-working holiday, or on Sunday, which is declared a working day in accordance with the established procedure. If the second Sunday of September on which elections must be scheduled coincides with a non-working holiday, or the day preceding it, or the day following a non-working holiday, or the second Sunday of September is declared in accordance with the established procedure as a working day, the elections are scheduled for the third Sunday of September.
(see text in the previous edition)
7. The decision to call elections to a federal body of state power must be made no earlier than 110 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. The decision to call elections to a government body of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation must be made no earlier than 100 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. The decision to call elections to a local government body must be made no earlier than 90 days and no later than 80 days before voting day. The decision to call elections is subject to official publication in the media no later than five days from the date of its adoption. When early elections are called, the deadlines specified in this paragraph, as well as the deadlines for carrying out other electoral actions, may be reduced, but not by more than one third.
8. If the authorized body or official does not call elections within the time period provided for in paragraph 7 of this article, and also if the authorized body or official is absent, elections are called: to federal bodies of state power - by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation in the manner established by federal law; to state authorities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation - by the election commission of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation no later than 80 days before voting day; to local government bodies - by the relevant election commission no later than 70 days before voting day. Solution election commission on calling elections is published no later than seven days from the date of expiration of the period established by paragraph 7 of this article for the official publication of the decision on calling elections.
9. If the relevant election commission does not appoint, within the period established by paragraph 8 of this article, elections of the bodies or deputies specified in paragraph 1 of Article 8 of this Federal Law, or if such an election commission does not exist and cannot be formed in the manner provided for by this Federal Law, the relevant court of general jurisdiction, based on applications from voters, electoral associations, state authorities, local self-government bodies, the prosecutor, can determine the period no later than which the authorized body or official, and in their absence, the relevant election commission, must call elections. In this case, the court also has the right to impose on the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation or the election commission of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (corresponding to the level of elections) the obligation to form, within ten days from the date of entry into force of the court decision, a temporary election commission of no more than 15 commission members, in compliance with the composition requirements election commission provided for - and this Federal Law, and in the absence of a body or official authorized to call elections - also establish a period within which the temporary election commission must call elections. The term of office and the number of voting members of a temporary election commission are established by the election commission that formed it.
Features of the Russian electoral process
3. Grounds and procedure for calling elections. Deadlines for calling elections various levels. Subjects of the right to call elections
Elections of deputies of legislative (representative) bodies of state power, deputies of representative bodies and heads municipalities are appointed upon the expiration of their terms of office established by the constitutions (charters) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the charters of municipalities.
The calculation of the term for which deputies of legislative (representative) bodies of state power and deputies of representative bodies of municipalities were elected begins from the day of their election. The day of election of deputies is the voting day, as a result of which the above-mentioned bodies were elected in their authorized composition.
The calculation of the term for which an elected official of local self-government was elected begins from the day of his assumption of office.
The appointment of any elections as a stage of the electoral process includes several stages, the content of which is aimed at ensuring guarantees that such a decision will be made within the established time frame. These stages may include:
preparation of a draft decision on calling elections, its preliminary discussion in the relevant representative body with the participation of state authorities or local government bodies and elected officials. During this stage, the possible date of voting in certain elections is determined;
consideration and adoption of a decision on calling elections at a meeting of the relevant representative body. The adoption of this decision must be carried out in the manner prescribed by the regulations of the said body;
official publication of the decision to call elections in relevant periodicals. In practice, such decisions are published in those periodicals that are established to publish regulatory legal acts of the relevant state authorities or local governments.
The decision to call elections to the federal government body ( The State Duma, President of the Russian Federation) must be adopted no earlier than 110 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. The decision to call elections to a government body of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (Legislative Assembly Krasnodar region) must be adopted no earlier than 100 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. The decision to call elections to a local government body must be made no earlier than 90 days and no later than 80 days before voting day.
Elections are called by the following state and local government bodies:
elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation - by the President of Russia (Article 84 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation);
elections of the President of Russia - the Federation Council (Article 102 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation);
elections of deputies of the legislative (representative) body of state power of a subject of the Russian Federation - legislative (representative) body of state power of the subject of the Russian Federation;
elections of deputies of the representative body and the head of the municipality - by the representative body of the municipality.
In some cases, for example, when repeat elections are held, the law assigns the decision to call these elections to the relevant election commission.
The voting day for elections to federal bodies of state power is determined in accordance with federal law, the voting days for elections to bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local government bodies are the second Sunday of March, and in some cases - the second Sunday of October of the year in which the deadlines expire powers of these bodies. Exceptions to this rule are cases expressly specified in the law.
For example, in the event of early termination of the powers of an elected official of local self-government or deputies of a representative body, as a result of which this representative body becomes incompetent, elections must be held no later than six months from the date of such early termination of powers. In addition, in the year of elections of Deputies of the State Duma of the next convocation, in some cases, elections of state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and elections of local government bodies are held simultaneously with these elections.
Voting in the elections can only be scheduled for Sunday. It is not permitted to schedule voting on a non-working holiday and on the day preceding it, on the day following a non-working holiday, as well as on Sunday, which is declared a working day in accordance with the established procedure. In such cases, elections are scheduled for the first Sunday in March. The issue is resolved in a similar way when elections are scheduled for October.
The decision to call elections must be officially published no later than five days from the date of its adoption.
Elections of the President of the Russian Federation: history and modernity
Voting is important stage during presidential elections. Voting begins at 8 o'clock and ends at 20 o'clock local time. Voting can end before 20:00 if all voters have voted...
The State Duma in the system of government bodies
Art. 96 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation states: “1. The State Duma is elected for a term of four years. 2. The procedure for forming the Federation Council and the procedure for electing deputies of the State Duma are established federal laws...
Citizenship in the Republic of Belarus
The significance of elections is that they represent a legal form of struggle for power. Securing it...
Electoral process
In paragraph 9 of Art. 70 of the Federal Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation” specifies the following conditions necessary for the relevant commission to recognize the voting results...
Electoral process in foreign countries
The electoral process begins with the calling of elections. It is associated with the publication of a legal act (usually by the head of state) defining the date of elections. This is the beginning of the official election campaign...
Electoral process in Russia
Mandatory elections - they are a mandatory and legitimate way of forming legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power and local government elected by citizens of the Russian Federation...
Organization and conduct of elections in the Kyrgyz Republic
The election results are determined by the Central Election Commission on the basis of protocols received directly from territorial election commissions, by adding up the data contained in them...
Basics civil service. Powers of the President of the Russian Federation
The President is the head of state. The President, as head of state, takes measures to protect state sovereignty, independence of the Russian Federation, state integrity and unity. The President is also the guarantor of the Constitution...
Features of the Russian electoral process
The current legislation defines a system of organizational and legal guarantees for calling elections. The Federal Law on Fundamental Guarantees determines, in addition to the general and special procedure for calling elections...
The procedure for calculating pensions for long service
In the Russian Federation for citizens exposed to radiation during testing nuclear weapons either as a result emergency situations at nuclear facilities for civil and military purposes...
Legal regime of agricultural lands
Transfer of lands and land plots agricultural purposes in other categories is regulated in accordance with the provisions of Federal Law dated December 21, 2004 N 172-FZ (as amended on June 7...
Application of special knowledge in criminal proceedings
Recognizing necessary appointment forensic examination, the investigator makes a decision on this, and in cases provided for in paragraph 3 of part two of Article 29 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation of December 18, 2001 No. 174-FZ (as amended on December 28...
Deadlines in the electoral process
The calling of elections is a mandatory starting stage of the electoral process, which gives rise to all activities related to the organization and conduct of elections. At the same time, it itself consists of a number of stages extended in time...
Deadlines for assignment and recalculation of insurance pensions
Citizens can apply for an insurance pension at any time after the right to it arises, without any time limit, by submitting an appropriate application...
Calling elections is the first stage of any electoral process. The essence of calling elections is to set the voting date. The institution of calling elections guarantees timely holding and thus ensures the principle of periodicity of elections.
The following essential points are characteristic of the stage of calling elections:
1) elections of bodies and deputies are mandatory and are held within the time limits established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws, constitutions (charters), laws of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, charters of municipalities;
2) elections are called by the authorized body in accordance with the deadlines established by the relevant legal acts. Thus, elections of deputies of the State Duma are appointed by the President of the Russian Federation, and elections of the President of Russia are appointed by the Federation Council. In most subjects of the Russian Federation, elections of all regional bodies of government are appointed by the legislative (representative) body of the subject of the Russian Federation; mutual appointment of elections of bodies of two branches of government is less common. Elections of local self-government bodies can be appointed either by the legislative (representative) body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, or by a representative body of local self-government;
3) voting in elections can only be scheduled for Sunday. It is not permitted to schedule voting on a non-working holiday and on the day preceding it, on the day following a non-working holiday, as well as on Sunday, which is declared a working day in accordance with the established procedure;
4) the decision to call elections to a federal body of state power must be made no earlier than 110 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. The decision to call elections to a government body of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation must be made no earlier than 100 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. The decision to call elections to a local government body must be made no earlier than 90 days and no later than 80 days before voting day. The decision to call elections is subject to official publication in the media no later than 5 days from the date of its adoption. When early elections are called, these deadlines may be reduced, but not by more than one third;
5) in the event of early termination of the powers of bodies or deputies, entailing the incompetence of the body, early elections must be held no later than six months from the date of such early termination of powers;
6) if the authorized body or official does not call elections within the time period established by law, and also if the authorized body or official is absent, elections are called: to federal bodies of state power by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation in the manner established by federal law; to state authorities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation - by the election commission of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation no later than 80 days before voting day; to local government bodies - by the relevant election commission no later than 70 days before voting day.
In accordance with sub. 53 Article 2 of the Federal Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights...” referendum is a form of direct expression of the will of citizens of the Russian Federation on the most important issues of state and local significance for the purpose of decision-making carried out through voting by citizens of the Russian Federation who have the right to participate in the referendum.
A referendum is held on the basis of universal, equal, direct and free expression of the will of citizens of the Russian Federation by secret ballot.
The initiative to hold a referendum belongs to:
1) no less than 2 million citizens of the Russian Federation who have the right to participate in the referendum, provided that no more than 50 thousand of them have a place of residence in the territory of one subject of the Russian Federation or in total outside the territory of the Russian Federation;
2) to the Constitutional Assembly - in the case provided for in Part 3 of Art. 135 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation;
3) federal government bodies - in cases provided for by the international treaty of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law on the Referendum of the Russian Federation.
The appointment of elections is carried out by an authorized body or official. The voting day for elections to federal bodies of state power is determined in accordance with federal law.
For example, elections of deputies of the State Duma of a new convocation in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 6 of the Federal Law of May 18, 2005 No. 51-FZ “On elections of deputies of the State Duma”1 are appointed by the President of the Russian Federation. The decision to call elections must be made no earlier than 110 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. Voting day is the first Sunday of the month in which the constitutional term for which the State Duma of the previous convocation was elected expires. The constitutional term for which the State Duma is elected is calculated from the day of its election. The day of election of the State Duma is the day of voting, as a result of which it was elected in its authorized composition. The decision to call elections is subject to official publication in the media no later than five days from the date of its adoption.
Another example. In accordance with clause “d”, part 1, art. 102 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, elections of the President of the Russian Federation are appointed by the Federation Council, and in paragraph 2 of Art. 5 of the Federal Law “On Elections of the President of the Russian Federation” establishes a rule from which it follows that the decision to call elections must be made no earlier than 100 and no later than 90 days before voting day. Voting day is the second Sunday of the month in which voting took place in the previous general elections of the President of the Russian Federation and in which the President of the Russian Federation was elected four years ago1.
As for elections in the constituent entities of the Federation and local government bodies, as is known, in terms of calling elections, the legislator introduced a rule (clause 3 of Article 10 of the Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights”), according to which the voting days for elections to bodies state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local government bodies are the second Sunday in March or the second Sunday in October of the year in which the terms of office of elected bodies or deputies of these bodies expire, with the exception of cases of early termination of powers of elected bodies and persons. Early elections must be held no later than six months from the date of early termination of the powers of elected bodies or deputies of these bodies.
In connection with the consolidation of some constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the legislator considered it necessary to regulate the issue of calling elections in them separately. So, in accordance with paragraph 5 of Art. 10 of the Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights”, elections to government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, newly formed in accordance with the federal constitutional law, federal law, constitution (charter) of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, are scheduled for the second Sunday of March or the second Sunday of October, and in the year of elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the next convocation - on the day of voting in these elections or on another day in accordance with the federal constitutional law, federal law, decree of the President of the Russian Federation.
Elections of deputies of representative bodies and elected officials of local self-government are appointed by bodies and officials specified in the relevant laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the charters of municipal entities. Elections of deputies
Representative bodies are usually appointed by the head of the municipality.
The current legislation retains the rule according to which voting in elections can only be scheduled on Sunday. It is not permitted to schedule voting on a non-working holiday and on the day preceding it, on the day following a non-working holiday, as well as on Sunday, which is declared a working day in accordance with the established procedure. If in this case the second Sunday of March, on which elections must be scheduled, coincides with a non-working holiday, or the day preceding it, or the day following a non-working holiday, or the second Sunday of March is declared in accordance with the established procedure as a working day, the elections are scheduled on the first Sunday in March. The same rule applies to elections in October.
Thus, there is a prohibition on calling a vote:
firstly, on a non-working holiday (in accordance with Article 112 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation1 non-working holidays are: January 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 - New Year holidays; January 7 - Christmas Day; February 23 - Defender of the Fatherland Day; 8 March - International Women's Day; May 1 - Spring and Labor Day; May 9 - Victory Day; November 4 - National Unity Day);
secondly, on the day preceding or following a non-working holiday;
thirdly, on Sunday, which is declared a working day in accordance with the established procedure.
Because of this, it is not permitted to declare one or another calendar day of the week a weekend or other non-working day and to schedule voting on this day (including repeat voting) both in regular and early elections. If the Sunday on which elections must be scheduled coincides with a pre-holiday or non-working holiday, or the day following a non-working holiday or a Sunday that has been declared a working day in accordance with the established procedure, elections may be scheduled on the previous calendar Sunday.
At the same time, it is necessary to keep in mind that if the voting day (Sunday) in the early elections of the President of the Russian Federation coincides with a pre-holiday or non-working holiday or with the day following a non-working holiday, the voting day is the previous Sunday (otherwise the provision will be violated Part 2 of Article 92 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation stating that early elections of the President of the Russian Federation must take place no later than three months from the date of early termination of his powers)1.
The decision to call elections to a federal government body must be made no earlier than 110 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. The decision to call elections to a government body of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation must be made no earlier than 100 days and no later than 90 days before voting day. The decision to call elections to a local government body must be made no earlier than 90 days and no later than 80 days before voting day. The decision to call elections is subject to official publication in the media no later than five days from the date of its adoption. This decision to call elections (voting day) is one of the integral components of the election procedure. The adoption of a decision to call elections and its official publication are legal facts with which election legislation associates the emergence of a number of legal relations within the electoral process.
The responsibility for publishing the decision to call elections rests with the body or official who made this decision. It should be noted that the law imposes on the authorized body or official the obligation only to make an appropriate decision on calling elections within the time limits established by regulatory legal acts, and does not assume that the decision to call elections is lawfully made after it has entered into force. may be canceled or changed (except in case of a state of emergency or martial law). This means that the relevant body or official is not vested with the power to cancel or amend previously decision taken about calling elections.
On this organizational and legal basis the principle (norm) of mandatory elections is also implemented1.
The media specified in the relevant regulatory legal acts as executors of the official publication of the decision to call elections may, in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 5.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation bear responsibility for the untimely publication of this decision.
When early elections are called, the specified deadlines for carrying out other electoral actions may be reduced, but not more than by one third. It should be taken into account that in accordance with the Federal Law “On general principles organizations of legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation" the powers of a legislative (representative) body of state power may be terminated early in the event of: a) the said body makes a decision on self-dissolution, and the decision on self-dissolution is made in the manner prescribed by the constitution ( charter) or law of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation; b) dissolution of the said body by the highest official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (the head of the highest executive body of state power) on the grounds provided for by the said Federal Law; c) entry into force of the decision accordingly supreme court republics, courts of a territory, region, city of federal significance, autonomous region, autonomous district on the incompetence of a given composition of deputies of the legislative (representative) body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, including in connection with the resignation of deputies of their powers; d) dissolution of the said body in the manner and on the grounds provided for by the said Federal Law (in this case, the powers of the legislative body of state power are terminated from the date the federal law on its dissolution comes into force). In addition, this Federal Law not only defines cases of early termination of the powers of the legislative body, but also partially reveals the provision on the incompetence of its deputy composition, including in the content list this concept such a component as deputies resigning their powers1.
With regard to early elections, a deadline has also been established for making a decision on setting a date for their holding, which is no more than 14 days from the date of early termination of the powers of bodies or deputies. In these conditions, a body or official authorized to make a decision on the early termination of the powers of the body or deputies has the right to make a decision drawn up in one document and containing a provision both on the early termination of powers and on setting a date for holding early elections, or make two independent document- on early termination of powers and on setting the date of elections, while the starting point for the second decision will be the entry into force of the decision on early termination of powers, and the final point will be the last day of the two-week period from the date of early termination of powers of the body (deputies).
If the authorized body or official does not call elections within the prescribed time frame, elections are called: to federal bodies of state power - by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, to government bodies of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation - by the election commission of a subject of the Russian Federation no later than 80 days before voting day; to local government bodies - by the relevant election commission no later than 70 days before voting day. The decision of the election commission to call elections is published no later than seven days from the date of expiration of the deadline for the official publication of the decision to call elections.
If the relevant election commission does not schedule elections of bodies or deputies within the prescribed period, or if such an election commission does not exist and cannot be formed, then the relevant court of general jurisdiction, based on applications from voters, electoral associations, state bodies,
military authorities, local government bodies, and the prosecutor may determine a period no later than which the authorized body or official, and in their absence, the relevant election commission, must call elections. This provision consolidates one of the elements of the system of guarantees of citizens' electoral rights to participate in free elections, namely judicial guarantees.
In the mechanism of guarantees, the court as a body of judicial power (justice) occupies (in cases of a dispute between the parties to a legal relationship or non-fulfillment, improper execution, impossibility of fulfilling legal regulations, etc.) an extremely important place, and its decisions are binding on all bodies and persons who have the right to participate in elections. Calling elections within the framework of a judicial procedure is, of course, an exceptional case of organizing the electoral process, holding free elections, however, the specified power of the court, essentially being the so-called “sleeping power” in a situation of law-abiding activity of bodies and officials, election commissions to call elections, turns into an effective guarantee of the principle of compulsoryness, frequency of elections, electoral rights and freedoms of citizens and other participants in the electoral process.
The date of elections is determined by the court, and the court must take into account the deadlines for carrying out electoral actions and electoral procedures provided for by law.
If the elections are ordered by the court, the current election commission, which did not make a timely decision on calling and holding elections or did not publish the said decision, is removed from participation in the organization of elections due to the direct effect of the court decision and the provisions of the law1.
In this case, the court also has the right to impose on the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation or the election commission of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation (corresponding to the level of elections) the obligation to form, within ten days from the date of entry into force of the court decision, a temporary election commission of no more than 15 members, and in the absence of an authorized person to appoint election of a body or official - also establish a period within which the temporary election commission must call elections. In this case, elections
organizes and conducts a temporary election commission, which is formed by the Central Election Commission of Russia or the election commission of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation to prepare and conduct only these elections.
The composition of the temporary election commission is subject to publication in the official printed organ of the Central Election Commission of Russia - “Bulletin of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation” (if the decision on the formation of the composition of the temporary election commission is made by the Central Election Commission of Russia) and is submitted for publication in the media, in particular to the “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” . The composition of the temporary election commission, formed by the election commission of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, is subject to publication in the official printed organ of the election commission (if established) and is submitted for official publication to the relevant media.
The Temporary Election Commission is authorized to organize and conduct elections in accordance with the court decision.
The term of office and the number of voting members of a temporary election commission are established by the election commission that formed it. This period and the powers of the temporary election commission are limited to the date of completion of the election campaign, i.e. the day of submission to the relevant body of a report on the expenditure of funds from the relevant budget allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections.
of the Russian Federation, federal laws, constitutions (charters), laws of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, charters of municipalities for the purpose of forming a government body, local government body or empowering an official.
Government bodies are formed in two ways:
- through elections;
- by appointment.
More about elections
However, appointments for senior positions in the executive and judicial authorities are carried out by elected bodies. Thus, elections give the highest initial legitimacy to the entire structure of government bodies. IN Russian state at the federal level, one chamber of the Federal Assembly - the State Duma and the head of state - the President of the Russian Federation are directly elected. It is in them that the highest power-forming will of the people is embodied and from them the main impetus is given to the formation of all executive and judicial powers at the federal level. State authorities in the constituent entities of the Federation, as well as local self-government bodies, are formed on an elective basis. Hence, the importance of elections at all levels is extremely important.
Elections, like a referendum, are a legalized form of direct expression of the people's will, the most important manifestation of democracy. Through elections, citizens influence the formation of government bodies and thereby exercise their right to participate in the management of public affairs. Civil society, based on pluralism of opinions and interests of people, is not able to ensure the voluntary obedience of the law by citizens, to avoid acute social explosions, if public authorities are not formed on a fair electoral basis with the participation of the citizens themselves.
Elections directly reflect political system and for their part influence it. Their entire organization and procedure for determining voting results are closely related to political parties. For example, electoral systems and elections held on their basis differ in two-party and multi-party systems. Elections allow citizens to understand the true meaning of the programs of political parties fighting for power. Through them, and only through them, the will of the majority of the people is revealed, on the basis of which a democratic government can be created. Political parties precisely contribute to the formation of such a majority.
In a democratic state, with sufficient development of political culture and initiative of citizens, there is practically no (rather, there cannot be) complete unanimity in elections. The point of elections is not to demonstrate an imaginary consensus between all citizens and social strata, which never, except emergency situations, cannot be achieved in a developed society, but that everyone can express their will, and government- to be created and act in accordance with this will. Through the electoral struggle, therefore, stability and order in public life are ultimately achieved.
During election campaigns, there is usually a rise in people’s emotional activity, sometimes accompanied by various kinds excesses. In developed societies, therefore, certain standards of political behavior are developed, supported by the corresponding requirements of the law. Elections provide an outlet for the dissatisfaction that has accumulated among a certain part of the population with the actions of the authorities; they open the only possible way for the democratic resolution of contradictions in society, excluding physical clashes between people and the way of imposing the opinion of a minority or individual politicians on the majority. Elections are a kind of test of citizens' trust in their state.
