Date Printed: 04/23/2009 JTS Box Number: lFES 71 Tab Number: 123 Document Title: Election of the President of the Russian Presid~nt Document Date: 1996 Document Country: Russia Document Language: English lFES ID: CE01670 , illS Intemafional Found_Non for Election Systems 1101 15th STRtEf, N.W.· THIRD flOOR· WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005 ' (202) 82S-8507 • fAX (202) 452.00>4 20 MOST ASKED QUESTIONS Election of the President of the Russian Federation 16 June 1996 F Clifton WItte III IliPW Center Internatronal Fow+lioft for Election Systems (6/11/96) • TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. How many candidates were nominated and how many are on the ballot? .•••••••.• 3 2. Who may nominate a candidate? .......•...............•••••••••••••.. 3 3. What are the steps in the nominating process? ..•..................•••.••.. 4 4. Who are the candidates and by whom were they nominated? •.......••.•.•..... 4 5. What else will be voted on during these elections? ...............•....••.... 5 6. What are the electoral administrative units and how many polling stations will be established for the presidential election •••••.•...........•.......••• 5 7. How may voters will be eligible to vote in the election? .......•••••.•••••••••• 6 8. Who is responsible for the administration of the election? ...•••••••.••••••••.• 6 9. Do candidates have any representation on the election commissions? ............. 7 10. How are voter lists compiled? ......••.•...................••......••. 7 11. What rules apply to the campaign activities of the candidates and how are their campaigns funded? .•.••.••.•.•••••.•..•....••.......... 8 12. Who is allowed to be an observer and where may they observe? •.•••.........•• 9 13. What are the procedures at the polling stations? ......•.••••••••••.•••..... 9 14. Are there any special voter services outside regular voting at the polling site on election day? ......•••.....•••••••...........•.••••.. 10 15. When and where are the ballots counted? . • • • • • • • • • • • . • . • 11 16. How are results consolidated and reported? •........•........••••....... 12 17. What is the State Automated System? (SAS) . • . • • • • • • • . • • . 13 18. Is there a threshold turnout requirement for the election to be valid? • • • . • . •. 13 19. How is the winner of the election determined? ....................••..•.• 14 20. What happens if there is no winner declared based on the election returns? •...... 14 20 Mosl Asked Questions 2 1. How many candidates were nominated for the office of President and how many are on the ballot? 11 candidates were slated to appear on the ballot. However, a candidate may withdraw at any time before election day. As of 10 June 1996, one candidate (Aman Tuleyev) had withdrawn. Should a candidate withdraw after the ballots are printed members of Polling Station Election Commissions will be instructed to mark through the name of the withdrawn candidate(s) on their ballots before voting begins on election day. Originally, 78 applications were submitted but only 17 ultimately completed the process and submitted nominating petitions. Of the 17 candidates nominated, 8 were rejected by the Central Election Commission. In two of the cases brought before the Supreme Court the CEC ruling was overturned bringing the total number of successful candidates to 11. 2. Who may nominate a candidate? Candidates may be nominated by electoral associations, electoral blocs and initiative voters' groups. Electoral Association: A public association whose charter provides for participation in elections through the nomination of candidates and which was registered by the Ministry of Justice no less than 6 months prior to the announcement of the date of the election .!lli!!;.: Formed by 2 or more electoral associations who join together to nominate a candidate for the election. Electoral blocs are registered by the Central Election Commission. It is not required that a candidate nominated by an electoral association or bloc be a member of any association involved. An electoral association or bloc may only nominate one candidate. Initiatiye Voters' Group: A citizen's groups of least 100 persons who applies to and is registered by the Central Election Commission. Once registered the initiative voters' group is eligible to nominate its candidate. 20 Most Asked Questions 3. What are the steps in the nominating process? Electoral associations, blocs and initiative voters' groups initiate the process of nominating a candidate by holding their congresses or meetings at which they vote by secret ballot to select the candidate they choose to put forth. Each nominating group also appoints authorized representatives who will represent the group in all matters related to their participation in the election. The nominating organization submits appropriate documents to the Central Election Commission including information about its candidate, the list of their authorized representatives and their powers of attorney, and the minutes of the meeting at which they selected their candidates. Upon verification that the documents are in the proper order, the Central Election Commission registers the authorized representatives of the organization seeking to nominate a candidate. Immediately upon registration of the authorized representatives, a nominating organization may begin gathering signatures on a nominating petition. Each candidate must be supported by not less than 1,000,000 signatures of voters on officially authorized signature sheets. No more than 7% of the accepted signatures may come from a single Subject. Signatures must come from voters residing in at least 15 of the Russian Federation's 89 Subjects. Petitions must be submitted by 6 p.m. not later than 60 days before the election. The Central Election reviews each petition to ensure that it is in the proper order and that it contains the required number of valid signatures. When it is determined that the petition satisfies the legal requirements, the Central Election Commission registers the candidate and issues the appropriate certificate. Refusal of the Central Election Commission to register a candidate may be appealed to the Supreme Court. The case must be adjudicated within 3 days. 4. Who are the candidates and by whom were they nominated? Of the II candidates slated to appear on the ballot 8 were nominated by initiative voters' groups. Two candidates were nominated by electoral associations. One candidate was nominated by both an initiative group and an electoral association. The law does not limit the 20 Most Asked Questions number of groups which may nominate the same candidate. Several candidates were nominated by more than one initiative voters' group. No blocs were formed for the purposes of nominating a candidate for the presidential election. Candidates Nominated by Candidates Initiated by Initiative Voters' Groups Electoral Associations Vladimir Brintsalov Vladimir Zhirinovsky Svatoslav Fyodorov Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Mikhail Gorbachev Alexander Lebed* Grigory Yavlinsky Martin Shakkum Yabloko Electoral Association Aman Tuleyev (Withdrawn) Yury Vlasov • Alexander Lebed was also Boris Yeltsin nominated by the Congress of Gennadi Zyuganov Russian Communities Electoral Association s. What else will be voted on during these elections? In a few areas, Subject and local elections may be held simultaneously with the presidential election. However, in these instances candidates to be elected for regional and local offices will be on a separate ballot. The results of these local elections will be counted and reported separately. 6. What are the electoral administrative units and how many polling stations will be established for the presidential election? There are 89 Subjects corresponding to the regional administrative units into which the Russian Federation is divided. The Subjects have been organized into approximately 2700 Territories encompassing the various cities and raions. Approximately 93,300 polling stations will be established for the presidential elections, each serving up to 3,000 voters. Special polling stations may be established in rest homes, 20 MoSt Asked Questions 5 · . sanitariums, spas and other places of temporary residence, as well as in military sites in remote areas, polar stations, on navigating vessels and at diplomatic missions and consular offices outside the Federation. There are approximately 400 remote voting sites outside the Russian Federation. 7. How many voters will be eligible to vote in the 16 June 1996 presidential election? Approximately 106.3 million voters will be eligible to participate in the election. 8. Who is responsible for the administration of the election of President of the Russian Federation? Elections are administered by a hierarchy of Election Commissions appointed at the Central, Subject, Territorial and Polling Station levels. The Central Election Commission (CEq, Established on a permanent basis and comprised of 15 members with deciding vote. Five members are appointed by State Duma (the parliamentary body's lower house); five are appointed by the Federation Council (the upper house whose members are the heads of the elected and executive bodies of the Subjects); and, five are appointed by the President. Subject Election Commissions (SEC) direct and coordinate the elections with their boundaries and are the liaisons between the CEC and bodies of the state power within the Subjects. Their members who serve 4 year terms, are appointed by the elected and executive bodies of power within the Subject, based on proposals from public organizations,