Elections in Russia
Encyclopedia
On the federal level, Russia elects a president as head of state
and a legislature, one of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly. The president is elected for at most two six-year terms by the people (raised from four years from December 2008). The Federal Assembly
(Federalnoe Sobranie) has two chambers
. The State Duma
(Gosudarstvennaja Duma) has 450 members, elected for five-year terms (also four years up to December 2008), all of them by proportional representation
. The Federation Council
(Sovet Federatsii) is not directly elected; each of the 83 federal subjects of Russia
sends 2 delegates to the Federal Council, for a total of 166 members.
Since the fall of the USSR, there have been five elections for the presidency and five for parliament.
In the five presidential elections, only once, in 1996, has a second round been needed. There have been three presidents, with Boris Yeltsin
elected in 1991 and 1996, Vladimir Putin
in 2000 and 2004 (Yeltsin had already relinquished power to Putin in 1999) and Dmitry Medvedev
in 2008. The candidate of the Communist Party has finished second in every case: Nikolai Ryzhkov
in 1991, Gennady Zyuganov
in 1996, 2000 and 2008 and Nikolay Kharitonov
in 2004. Only in 1996 has there been a third candidate who gained more than 10% of the votes in the first round, Alexander Lebed.
In the parliamentary elections, the Communist Party was the biggest party in the 1995 and 1999 elections, with 35% and 24% of the votes respectively. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
has ranged from 5 to 15% of the votes, and Yabloko
won 10% of the votes in 1995 and around 5% in the other three elections. The only other parties that have achieved more than 10% of the votes have been Russia's Choice with 16% in 1993, Our Home is Russia
with 12% in 1995, and, in 1999, Unity Party of Russia with 23%, Fatherland-All Russia with 13% and People's Deputies Faction with 15%. United Russia
, an alliance of Unity Party of Russia and Fatherland – All Russia, became the biggest party with 38% in 2003.
principles on which elections and citizens’ electoral rights are enshrined in the Constitution and clarified in the Law on Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Rights of Citizens of the Russian Federation to Participate in a Referendum (Basic Guarantees). Initially this law was intended to underpin the standards and principles that would govern all elections. As it was enacted in 1994, the Basic Guarantees law also set forth relatively specific procedural principles on which subsequent election laws were to be based. Throughout the years, the law was modified.
must prove their trustworthiness by either gathering a minimum of 200,000 signatures from potential voters, or paying a bail of approximately $2.5 million.
facilitate election-related activities and to provide internal information for the election administration. The main tasks of the system are: aggregation of the election results, assistance in maintaining voters lists, and provision of financial information for parties and candidates. The purpose of such an automated system is to provide speed and a high level of transparency in the electoral process and to facilitate all election actors, including the ordinary voter, in tracking the election results.
concluded that these were not fair elections. Göran Lennmarker
, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said that the elections "failed to meet many of the commitments and standards that we have. It was not a fair election." Luc Van den Brande
, who headed a delegation from the Council of Europe
, referred to the "overwhelming influence of the president's office and the president on the campaign" and said there was "abuse of administrative resources" designed to influence the outcome. He also said there were "flaws in the secrecy of the vote." "Effectively, we can't say these were fair elections," he said at a news conference.
In February 2008 The human rights organisation Amnesty International
said that the presidential election
on 2 March would not be a genuine election: "There is no real opposition ahead of the election. There is no real electoral campaign battle," Friederike Behr, Amnesty's Russia researcher, was quoted as saying. In a report on the elections, Amnesty said laws restricting non-government organizations, police breaking up demonstrations, and harassment from critics were all part of "a systematic destruction of civil liberties in Russia." Another human rights organisation, Freedom House
, said that the victory of Putin's party in the 2007 elections "was achieved under patently unfair and non-competitive conditions calling into doubt the result’s legitimacy."
The Russian government has acted to prevent international observers monitoring Russian elections. In 2007 the OSCE was prevented from monitoring the legislative elections
held in December. In February 2008 the European Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
announced that it would not send observers to monitor the presidential election on 2 March, citing what it called "severe restrictions" imposed on its work by the Russian government. “We made every effort in good faith to deploy our mission, even under the conditions imposed by the Russian authorities,” said Christian Strohal, the organization’s director. “The Russian Federation has created limitations that are not conducive to undertaking election observation.” The OSCE has also withdrawn its attempts to monitor the elections.
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
and a legislature, one of the two chambers of the Federal Assembly. The president is elected for at most two six-year terms by the people (raised from four years from December 2008). The Federal Assembly
Federal Assembly of Russia
The Federal Assembly of Russia is the legislature of the Russian Federation, according to the Constitution of Russian Federation, 1993...
(Federalnoe Sobranie) has two chambers
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....
. The State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
(Gosudarstvennaja Duma) has 450 members, elected for five-year terms (also four years up to December 2008), all of them by proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
. The Federation Council
Federation Council of Russia
Federation Council of Russia ) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , according to the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation...
(Sovet Federatsii) is not directly elected; each of the 83 federal subjects of Russia
Federal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...
sends 2 delegates to the Federal Council, for a total of 166 members.
Since the fall of the USSR, there have been five elections for the presidency and five for parliament.
In the five presidential elections, only once, in 1996, has a second round been needed. There have been three presidents, with Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
elected in 1991 and 1996, Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
in 2000 and 2004 (Yeltsin had already relinquished power to Putin in 1999) and Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
in 2008. The candidate of the Communist Party has finished second in every case: Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov was a Soviet official who became a Russian politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He served as the last Chairman of the Council of Ministers or Premier of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991...
in 1991, Gennady Zyuganov
Gennady Zyuganov
Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov is a Russian politician, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation , Chairman of the Union of Communist Parties - Communist Party of the Soviet Union , deputy of the State Duma , and a member of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe...
in 1996, 2000 and 2008 and Nikolay Kharitonov
Nikolay Kharitonov
Nikolay Mikhailovich Kharitonov is a Russian politician from the Novosibirsk region. He is a leading member of the Agrarian Party of Russia, and a member of the State Duma, the Russian parliament. In 2004 he ran for the office of president of Russia in the presidential elections. His candidacy...
in 2004. Only in 1996 has there been a third candidate who gained more than 10% of the votes in the first round, Alexander Lebed.
In the parliamentary elections, the Communist Party was the biggest party in the 1995 and 1999 elections, with 35% and 24% of the votes respectively. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia , Liberal'no-Demokraticheskaya Partiya Rossii is a political party in Russia. Since its founding in 1991, it has been led by the charismatic and controversial figure Vladimir Zhirinovsky...
has ranged from 5 to 15% of the votes, and Yabloko
Yabloko
The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (Russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко» Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko"; is a Russian social...
won 10% of the votes in 1995 and around 5% in the other three elections. The only other parties that have achieved more than 10% of the votes have been Russia's Choice with 16% in 1993, Our Home is Russia
Our Home Is Russia
Our Home – Russia , abbreviated as NDR, was a Russian political party between 1995 and early 2000.Our Home – Russia was founded in 1995 by then Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. It was a liberal, centrist political movement, founded for the purpose of rallying more technocratic-reformist...
with 12% in 1995, and, in 1999, Unity Party of Russia with 23%, Fatherland-All Russia with 13% and People's Deputies Faction with 15%. United Russia
United Russia
United Russia is a centrist political party in Russia and the largest party in the country, currently holding 315 of the 450 seats in the State Duma. The party was founded in December 2001, through a merger of the Unity and Fatherland-All Russia parties...
, an alliance of Unity Party of Russia and Fatherland – All Russia, became the biggest party with 38% in 2003.
Elections legislation
A complement of legislation governs elections in the Russian Federation. Foundationprinciples on which elections and citizens’ electoral rights are enshrined in the Constitution and clarified in the Law on Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Rights of Citizens of the Russian Federation to Participate in a Referendum (Basic Guarantees). Initially this law was intended to underpin the standards and principles that would govern all elections. As it was enacted in 1994, the Basic Guarantees law also set forth relatively specific procedural principles on which subsequent election laws were to be based. Throughout the years, the law was modified.
Parliament
These elections were conducted under a number of comprehensive and highly detailed laws and subordinate acts, primarily the Law on the Election of Deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (‘the Duma Election Law’) and the Law on Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum (‘the Basic Guarantees Law’). To participate in the elections, parties not currently represented in State DumaState Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
must prove their trustworthiness by either gathering a minimum of 200,000 signatures from potential voters, or paying a bail of approximately $2.5 million.
Media
The election legislation includes detailed provisions governing the conduct of electronic and print media during the campaign, inter alia providing for free and paid broadcast time and print space to all political parties registered in the elections on equal conditions for campaign purposes and obligations of state-controlled and private media. The law also requires equal media access for all parties, and that news items on election events must be separate from editorial commentary.GAS Vybori system
GAS Vybori is an electronic network connecting computer complexes in the elections committee. It was established by presidential decree in 1995 in order tofacilitate election-related activities and to provide internal information for the election administration. The main tasks of the system are: aggregation of the election results, assistance in maintaining voters lists, and provision of financial information for parties and candidates. The purpose of such an automated system is to provide speed and a high level of transparency in the electoral process and to facilitate all election actors, including the ordinary voter, in tracking the election results.
Criticism of recent elections
Since Vladimir Putin became President of Russia there has been increasing international criticism of the conduct of Russian elections. European institutions who observed the December 2007 legislative electionsRussian legislative election, 2007
Legislative elections were held in the Russian Federation on 2 December 2007. At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia . Eleven parties were included in the ballot, including Russia's largest party, United Russia, which was supported by...
concluded that these were not fair elections. Göran Lennmarker
Göran Lennmarker
Rolf Göran Lennmarker is a Swedish moderate politician who has been a member of the Riksdag since 1991. From 2006 until 2010 he was the Chair of the Riksdag's Committee on Foreign Affairs...
, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said that the elections "failed to meet many of the commitments and standards that we have. It was not a fair election." Luc Van den Brande
Luc Van den Brande
Luc Van den Brande is a Flemish politician, member of the CD&V and was Minister-president of Flanders from 21 February 1992 until 13 July 1999. He took the initiative to create the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology...
, who headed a delegation from the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, referred to the "overwhelming influence of the president's office and the president on the campaign" and said there was "abuse of administrative resources" designed to influence the outcome. He also said there were "flaws in the secrecy of the vote." "Effectively, we can't say these were fair elections," he said at a news conference.
In February 2008 The human rights organisation Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
said that the presidential election
Russian presidential election, 2004
Presidential elections were held in Russia on 14 March 2004. Incumbent Vladimir Putin was seeking a second full four-year term. He was re-elected with 71.31% of the vote.-Sergey Glazyev:...
on 2 March would not be a genuine election: "There is no real opposition ahead of the election. There is no real electoral campaign battle," Friederike Behr, Amnesty's Russia researcher, was quoted as saying. In a report on the elections, Amnesty said laws restricting non-government organizations, police breaking up demonstrations, and harassment from critics were all part of "a systematic destruction of civil liberties in Russia." Another human rights organisation, Freedom House
Freedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
, said that the victory of Putin's party in the 2007 elections "was achieved under patently unfair and non-competitive conditions calling into doubt the result’s legitimacy."
The Russian government has acted to prevent international observers monitoring Russian elections. In 2007 the OSCE was prevented from monitoring the legislative elections
Russian legislative election, 2007
Legislative elections were held in the Russian Federation on 2 December 2007. At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia . Eleven parties were included in the ballot, including Russia's largest party, United Russia, which was supported by...
held in December. In February 2008 the European Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe dealing with the "human dimension" of security. The office, originally named Office for Free Elections, was created in 1990 by the Charter of Paris and...
announced that it would not send observers to monitor the presidential election on 2 March, citing what it called "severe restrictions" imposed on its work by the Russian government. “We made every effort in good faith to deploy our mission, even under the conditions imposed by the Russian authorities,” said Christian Strohal, the organization’s director. “The Russian Federation has created limitations that are not conducive to undertaking election observation.” The OSCE has also withdrawn its attempts to monitor the elections.
Latest elections
These percentages are not accurate.See also
- Electoral calendar
- Electoral system
- Electoral geography of RussiaElectoral geography of RussiaThe electoral geography of Russia is a description of regional political differences in the country. In recent years this has been popularized by the obvious territorial cleavages between North and South, urban and rural territories, etc....
- Elections in the Soviet UnionElections in the Soviet UnionThe electoral system of the Soviet Union was based upon Chapter XI of the Constitution of the Soviet Union and by the Electoral Laws enacted in conformity with it. The Constitution and laws applied to elections in all Soviets, from the Supreme Soviets of the USSR, the Union republics and ...