The primaries of United Russia are in many ways unique and do not resemble Western models, experts from Minchenko Consulting stated. For example, only in Russia is one voter allowed to vote for several candidates

Ballots for preliminary voting for candidates from the United Russia party nominated for elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation (Photo: Evgeny Epanchintsev/RIA Novosti)

The United Russia primary elections that took place this weekend were conducted according to a unique procedure for the whole world, according to experts from the Minchenko Consulting communications agency. In their report (available from RBC), analysts described the international experience of such events and came to the conclusion that there are no uniform rules for holding primaries throughout the world, although the Russian example “does not lag behind the studied world examples” in terms of the degree of competitiveness and citizen involvement.

The report's author group, headed by the agency's founder Evgeniy Minchenko, notes that the practice of conducting primary elections differs greatly in many countries and, even in the same country and the same party, in different years. For this reason, only a limited number of criteria can be identified for comparing the procedures of certain primaries.

For example, in some Latin American countries, preliminary voting is mandatory for all parties; their conduct is regulated by official legislation, and not by party charter or other organizational documents. A radical example of government intervention is Argentina, where a similar system has been operating for five years. The law establishes the timing of primaries and the maximum possible budget. For failure to appear for a preliminary vote, the state fines $3.50 (after repeated failure to appear, the amount doubles).

A different procedure exists in France, where primaries are considered more of a one-time event, the conduct of which becomes a matter of momentary political pragmatics and depends on the mood of the party leadership. For example, in 2012, after 17 years of conservative rule, the socialist parties “guessed the public demand” and agreed to pre-elect a single candidate among a whole bloc of left-wing movements, the report notes.

In a year, the next presidential elections will be held in France, and the Socialist Party is faced with a different kind of choice: part of the establishment proposes to unquestioningly nominate Francois Hollande for a second presidential term, their fellow party members are again raising the issue of primaries, pointing to the unpopularity of the president. According to the latest TNS poll, Socialist Party supporters are divided: 40% oppose Hollande's re-nomination, 39% of respondents support his candidacy.

Competition is an important criterion for comparing primaries in different countries of the world, according to the report. In some regions of the United States and Canada, preliminary voting in parliamentary elections takes place on an uncontested basis. In the November 2014 congressional elections, parties held over 700 primaries, in which in 20% of cases only the main candidate's name was on the ballot. In Canada, before the 2015 elections, the average number of candidates in the three leading parties did not exceed two people per seat.

In Russia, analysts note, when conducting primaries, the ruling party used a system unusual for world practice - voting for an unlimited number of candidates (in the West the principle of “one voter - one vote” is used).

Voter turnout is another basic criterion for evaluating primaries. 10.4 million citizens, or 9.5% of all potential voters, took part in the United Russia internal party voting. In the United States in 2014 the figure was 10.5%, and in France before the 2012 elections it was 6.5%. According to the authors of the report, this suggests that the “party in power” managed to conduct a campaign at the level of Western political movements.

As Minchenko noted, since December 2003, Russia has not held elections in single-mandate constituencies, and therefore the United Russia primaries turned out to be quite competitive and attracted the attention of the electorate. It was the growing political competition that forced United Russia to hold primary elections, Minchenko sums up.

Experts explained the differences between the United Russia primaries and Western elections