MOSCOW, December 9 Before the presidential elections, about participation in which a number of politicians have already stated, there are 100 days left, during which preparations will take place for “the most important event in the entire history of Russia,” on which “development not only within the country,” but throughout the world will depend.
On elections, the Federation Council, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, at a plenary meeting on December 7, decided to schedule presidential elections in Russia for March 17, 2024. From the moment the resolution comes into force — from the day of official publication — the election campaign actually starts.
Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko emphasized that the upcoming elections are the most important political event, which in many ways “will determine the future vector of Russia’s development.”
After the decision of the Federation Council on the date of the presidential elections, political parties will hold their pre-election congresses and officially nominate candidates for the post of President of the Russian Federation.
Candidates for the post of head of state The day before, the current President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, announced that he would nominate his candidacy for the upcoming elections. It remains unclear in what capacity Putin will run: as a self-nominated candidate or as a party candidate, but many politicians and social activists have already declared their support for the current head of state. The party «A Just Russia — For Truth» (SRZP), to support Putin's candidacy, has launched a special website where proposals for his election program will be accepted. SRZP leader Sergei Mironov said in September that the party is ready not just to support, but to nominate Putin in the upcoming elections. Also, the head of the executive committee of the Popular Front, Mikhail Kuznetsov, previously announced that he is ready to join the initiative group to nominate Putin in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation if such a proposal is received. Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communists of Russia party Sergei Malinkovich said that although the party has not yet made a final decision on participation in the elections, he personally considers it necessary to support the current president.
Chairman of the federal political committee of the Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky said that he will take part in the 2024 presidential elections if Russians proactively collect 10 million signatures for his nomination. And politician Boris Nadezhdin, one of the few who has already expressed a desire to run for the post of President of Russia, said that he has been moving in this direction for several months and intends to go to the elections in 2024 with the idea of making Russia the main country in Europe. The LDPR is preparing to nominate party leader Leonid Slutsky as a candidate for the presidential elections in 2024, a party source previously reported.
Amendments to the law on presidential elections in the Russian Federation This time, significant changes were made to the organizational aspects of the elections. In particular, changes have been made to the Federal Law “On the Election of the President of the Russian Federation”, according to which the law provides for clarification of the provisions regarding the implementation of photo and video recording at polling stations. Thus, it can only be carried out by persons entitled to do so in accordance with the law, excluding violation of the secrecy of voting and control over the expression of the will of voters, and it is also necessary to maintain the confidentiality of personal data contained in voter lists and other documents.
The changes clarify that voting in federal elections in constituent entities of the Russian Federation where martial law has been introduced “is possible based on the results of consultations of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation with the Ministry of Defense, the FSB and the head of the relevant region.” Martial law is currently in effect in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
The rules for conducting voting at polling stations abroad are also being clarified: the beginning, end and duration of voting can be changed by decision of the head of the embassy if voting poses a threat to the life and health of citizens of the Russian Federation.
The possibility of maintaining a register of “home” voting in electronic form is also being implemented.
The rule is established that if a registered candidate has a criminal record, an obligation is introduced to submit information about his criminal record in writing to the election commission that registered him.
In addition, if a party representative — a foreign agent — participates in campaigning events, then his speech must be preceded by a notification about this. In particular, in accordance with the amendments, a ban on campaigning on all blocked resources is introduced, as well as a number of clarifications regarding the work of the media. Among them is the admission to meetings of election commissions only of those media representatives who operate on the basis of an employment contract, as well as restrictions on photo and video filming at polling stations located in military units. An exception will be the work of representatives of accredited media in agreement with the commander of the military unit.
Preparation of the CEC for the presidential campaign Even before the date for the presidential elections was set, the CEC of Russia began active preparations for them. The head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said that voting in the country's main elections will take place over three days — on March 15, 16 and 17. In addition, the InformUIK system will be used for the information campaign during the presidential elections, and a special mobile application will be created.
In the near future, the Central Election Commission will adopt the procedure for conducting voting in new regions, taking into account the fact that martial law is in effect there.
In addition, citizens living or staying in settlements where there are no voting premises or where there are problems with transport links can vote using an additional form at mobile voting centers on March 15 and 16. This form of voting will be distributed in seven regions of Russia: the DPR, LPR, Kursk, Bryansk, Kherson, Zaporozhye and Belgorod regions.
The Central Election Commission approved the development of a unified visual concept and corporate style of the information campaign for the presidential elections in the Russian Federation and decided to approve the production of ballot papers in the amount of 113,574,550 pieces.
According to another resolution adopted at the commission meeting on October 18, the CEC decided to entrust the implementation of the project to the apparatus of the Central Election Commission. According to the deputy head of the department, Nikolai Bulaev, such work requires time to match the information campaign for the presidential election to “opportunities that are noticeably different from what it was in 2018.”
Also, the CEC has already approved a list of documents submitted to the commission by candidates for the post of President of Russia, as well as forms of identification of a registered candidate for this position and a certificate of election as president.
In addition, persons recognized as foreign agents now do not have the right to donate to the election funds of candidates for the post of President of the Russian Federation, even if the funds are not transferred from foreign sources, they will be returned or directed to the federal budget.
DEG-2024 Remote electronic voting (DEG) cannot yet be used by all regions of Russia. The CEC has repeatedly said that this is due to the fact that all aspects of the electoral process during the presidential elections must be streamlined in order to minimize any risks. Thus, about 49 million voters will be able to participate in the DEG on the federal platform in the 2024 elections, that is, 30 constituent entities of the Russian Federation who have previously participated in online voting. However, their number is, in any case, much larger compared to previous elections. And Moscow, which uses the DEG on its own platform, has already announced to the Central Election Commission its intention to participate in this form of expression of the will of citizens.
Pamfilova has repeatedly said that work to discredit the upcoming presidential elections in the Russian Federation has already begun and has been going on for a long time, especially by those who left Russia and, while abroad, are “earning their pennies” by working to disrupt the elections in the Russian Federation.
Despite this, the CEC is interested in having polling stations open in all countries for the 2024 elections, deputy head of the department Bulaev spoke about this. However, he expressed doubt that “some countries” would agree to security cooperation. In this case, it will be difficult to open polling stations. There is a rule of law that determines the procedure for opening polling stations abroad. In this case, the Russian Foreign Ministry should hold consultations on this issue, Bulaev said.
Polling stations in Ukraine will not be opened, since there is no Russian ambassador there. As for the new regions of Russia, Bulaev said that the Central Election Commission will take all measures to ensure the security of election commissions and polling stations there during the voting period, and “relevant structures” will assist in this.
Voting using remote electronic voting (DEG) from abroad will also not work, since, according to Pamfilova, it is impossible to use this form of expression of will of citizens of the Russian Federation who are abroad due to a whole “bouquet of various types of threats.”
Observers at the presidential elections The presidential elections in Russia, according to Pamfilova, are incomparable with any previous campaigns, since they will determine the path of Russia and the world as a whole. Many countries are observing this process. However, the head of the Central Election Commission is confident that with “such a team” the elections will be held with dignity.
It is not yet known exactly how much the circle of observers will change, but the Central Election Commission has already invited representatives of some states. For example, Pamfilova invited foreign experts to take part in monitoring the presidential elections in the Russian Federation, including those who worked in the 2023 regional elections in the DPR and LPR, in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Representatives from Namibia, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Cambodia, Belarus, as well as members of CIS election commissions also received invitations to come to the Russian presidential elections.
Speaking about whether countries where the institution of election observation and the institution of international observation are not developed can come as observers to other states, in particular to Russia for the 2024 presidential elections, CEC member Igor Borisov said that, according to in his opinion, “in this particular case, the prohibitive approach is not justified” and applying “some kind of mirror measures” is not in the interests of the Russian Federation, however, on the other hand, “we cannot open a loophole for interference and pressure on our elections under the guise of international observation , which is often used by our ideological opponents.» Nevertheless, according to him, Russia is ready to show and demonstrate its successful democratic development, even despite “such colossal pressure from the so-called “Western democracies.”