ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Electoral commissions play a large role in the organization and holding of elections under Russia's so-called guided democracy. They exist at four fundamental levels: precincts (approximately 95,000), territorial (TIK, 2,700), regional (RIK), and central (TsIK). There are also municipal commissions in some of the large cities, and there are district commissions for elections to the State Duma (around 190 to 225 districts according to Duma elections, minus those falling on a region's borders).

The central, regional, and territorial commissions are permanent bodies with four-year terms. The district and precinct commissions are organized one to three months before elections, and curtail their activity ten days after the publication of results.

The electoral commissions have from three to fifteen voting members, at least half of whom are appointed based on nominations by electoral associations with fractions in the Duma and by the regional legislatures. Half of the members of the regional electoral commissions are appointed by the regional executive, the other half by the legislative assembly. This means that for all practical matters the electoral commissions are under the control of the executive power. Parties, blocs, and candidates participating in elections may appoint one member of the electoral commission with consultative rights in the commission at their level and the levels below them. The precinct and territorial commissions are organized by the regional commissions with the participation of local government.

A new form of central electoral commission arose in 1993, when it was necessary to hold parliamentary elections and vote on a constitution in a short time. Officials considered the election deadlines unrealistic. At that time the president named all members of the commission and its chair. The central electoral commission has fifteen members and is organized on an equal footing by the Duma, the Federation Council, and the president. The central commission is essentially a Soviet institution, with the actual power, including control over the numerous apparatuses, concentrated in the hands of the chair. Between 2001 and 2003, an electoral vertical was established whereby the central commission can directly influence the lower-level commissions. The central commission names at least two members of the regional commission and nominates candidates for its head. Moreover, in the future the regional electoral commissions may be disbanded in favor of central commission representation (this mechanism was tested in 2003 with the Krasnoyarsk Krai electoral commission). The role of the central commission, and also of the Kremlin, in regional and local elections has grown significantly. The central commission's authority to interpret ambiguous legal clauses enables it to punish and pardon candidates, parties, electoral associations, and mass media organizations. As a bureaucratic structure, the central electoral commission has turned into a highly influential election ministry with an enormous budget and powerful leverage in relation to other federal and regional power structures and the entire political life of the country.

See also: duma; presidency

bibliography

McFaul, Michael. (2001). Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

McFaul, Michael, and Markov, Sergi. (1993). The Troubled Birth of Russian Democracy: Parties, Personalities, and Programs. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.

McFaul, Michael; Petrov, Nikolai; and Ryabov, Andrei, eds. (1999). Primer on Russia's 1999 Duma Elections. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Reddaway, Peter, and Glinski, Dmitri. (2001). The Tragedy of Russia's Reforms: Market Bolshevism against Democracy. Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace Press.

Nikolai Petrov