The State Duma is preparing another package of amendments to the electoral legislation and introducing restrictions on the use of campaign cubes / A. Makhonin / Vedomosti

On Wednesday, the State Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation approved a package of amendments to the bill by Deputy Chairman of the Committee, United Russia member Dmitry Vyalkin, on changes to the electoral laws, and the Committee on Public Associations supported amendments on restrictions on single pickets using campaign cubes. Both projects may be adopted in the third reading on February 26.

Vyalkin notes that the most important of his amendments concern the procedure for accrediting journalists at elections and election funds. Journalists will have to obtain accreditation no later than three days before voting; only a journalist who has worked in the media for at least two months can be accredited. Another amendment increases the maximum election fund for a candidate in a single-mandate constituency from 15 million to 40 million rubles. Vyalkin also proposes to introduce an article into the Code of Administrative Offenses on a fine for interfering in the work of election commissions (see inset). Unfortunately, unscrupulous participants in the election process have methods of creating obstacles for commissions, and the proposal was put forward following the results of the single voting day in September last year, Vyalkin explains.

Up to 5000 rubles for interference

For creating obstacles to the participation of voters and the work of commissions, if these actions do not contain a criminal offense, one can receive a fine of 2,000 to 5,000 rubles for citizens and 20,000 to 50,000 rubles for officials.

An amendment by United Russia member Sergei Kuzin to the government bill equating motor rallies and tent cities to rallies obliges participants in single-person pickets to notify the authorities three days before the event about the use of collapsible structures if they create obstacles for pedestrians and cars, and the authorities will be able to refuse this. "If the organizer does not believe that it is obstructing pedestrians, then there is no need to notify? And if the cube is ready and assembled, then it is no longer a collapsible structure and there is no need to notify either?" the committee chairman Yaroslav Nilov (LDPR) was perplexed at the meeting. Kuzin proposed to resolve issues "as they arise." "This amendment is the Moscow authorities' reaction to our conflict with them over the use of cubes," said Moscow City Duma deputy Andrei Klychkov. Using propaganda cubes, the communists collected signatures for the abolition of fees for capital repairs and received a letter from the Moscow authorities stating that the law does not provide for the use of such structures, which they challenged in court, the deputy says. "When we submitted applications for rallies and marches, we were always told that they cannot be used, although this is not in the law," says Klychkov.

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The fight against cubes, journalists and already adopted restrictions on observers have filled the cup of patience of the CPRF. "We will appeal in the Constitutional Court both Vyatkin's amendments and the restrictions on observers and notifications about cubes," says the head of the legal service of the CPRF Vadim Solovyov. The participation of journalists in the elections was effective, the election commissions felt public control, and now they have cut off both observers from parties and journalists, only a few will participate in monitoring the elections, the deputy believes.

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Observers will be fined more often for interfering with commissions, but given that there is criminal liability for this, this is not the worst thing, says political scientist Andrei Buzin. Increasing the election fund in the face of real competition is a good thing, but it should have been introduced earlier; given the crisis, there will be fewer such rich candidates, the expert believes: "Most of the money in elections comes without accounting, and with such a fund size, it will still go legally, and this is positive." As for notifications about cubes, this is an obvious attempt to limit the new form of non-standard and original street campaigning, which has become popular among candidates without administrative resources, says Buzin.

The State Duma continues pre-election amendments to the electoral legislation