Choose a bench, and at the same time the president

On March 18, referendums will be held in many regions to increase the turnout in many regions. True, they will be called differently and will not have legal force

Photo: J--Journal.ru

The authorities use all methods to increase the turnout. From new creative ideas - such as a selfie competition in polling stations and light eroticism in social networks to the primitive use of an administrative resource . But this is not enough: in the field they decided that the population should have an intelligible motive to go to areas and vote. If not for the future of the country (there is nothing to discuss and choose here), then for the future structure of his school and their area. Local referendums are called to help this - the old idea of ​​the presidential administration, which was tested in the regional elections last fall.

Quasi-referendum

The know-how consists in the fact that on March 18, plebiscites are held on local issues that are exciting citizens, but not real referenda, the organization of which requires a long legal procedure, and the results are mandatory for execution. Instead, voters are offered to participate in various surveys that have no legal force. The issues brought to these pseudo -referendums are as harmless as possible, about the trust of the current mayor/governor or the closure of hospitals do not ask for opinions of citizens.

Moreover, in a number of regions where real referendums were to be passed, they are abandoned. So, in Sevastopol they wanted to ask the townspeople about the new flag and the coat of arms of the city on March 18, but suddenly realized that they would not have time for the presidential election. They wanted to hold a referendum on the transfer of the capital from Syktyvkar to Ukhtu, but the election commission suddenly rejected signatures. And only in Volgograd , along with the presidential elections, they will solve an important issue in a referendum whether to translate time for an hour ahead or not.

Ella Pamfilova said that on March 18, "in polling stations there can be no so -called surveys and referenda in principle." Therefore, they will be held in the neighborhood

Perhaps the rejection of these referenda is caused by the tough position of the head of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova , who stated that on March 18, “no additional actions, so -called polls and referenda, in principle, can be in any election sites. Any public initiatives can be, but in no case should they be mixed with the voting process, and they must take place in autonomous mode. ” Obviously, she thus wants to minimize the number of emergency situations in polling stations on this day.

Great parent meeting

Unlike official referenda, “polls” can be carried out not in the premises of the polling station, but in the next room. It was such an argument that, in particular, was nominated by the Moscow authorities, which intend to conduct “school referendums” on March 18. Parents and schoolchildren over 14 years of age will be offered to speak out on issues important for the life of the school (each educational institution determines them independently): about the school uniform, holidays, optional classes, etc.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin rejected the accusations that in this way he seeks to increase the turnout. “At a meeting of the Public Chamber, I have already said that school referendums can hardly affect the turnout. Rather, on the contrary, the turnout for the elections will allow more actively holding referendums. If one of the managing councils of schools made such a decision, in the end, this is their right. But at the same time, firstly, this should not in any way interfere with the work of polling stations. Secondly, there should not be any administrative teams about mass referendums, ”he wrote on his website.

It is assumed that while the children will vote in their school referenda, the parents who brought them will look out of boredom at the presidential election passing nearby

In the Moscow region on March 18, there will also be their own “school referendum” - there students will be invited to vote if they want to study 6 days a week. Apparently, it is assumed that while the children will vote, their parents will look out of boredom at the presidential election passing nearby. A similar survey, only with the participation of adults, will be held in the Khabarovsk Territory.

Comfortable environment until the end of March

In many regions on March 18, residents will be able to vote for plans for the improvement of territories - choose the most pretty projects that will be implemented from the proposed options. Money for this is allocated under the program of the Ministry of Construction "Formation of a comfortable urban environment." This program has existed for a long time, but at the end of last year a requirement appeared in it: projects should be approved by the population until March 23. It goes without saying that the best date than the presidential election day, and not to come up with.

In the Tomsk region, “rating votes for the development of local landscaping facilities” will be held in five cities and four areas. Citizens will choose projects for which 310 million rubles will be spent on the implementation (of which 257 million are federal). Last year, the same program cost 48 million less. Until the day of voting, the mayors of cities and heads of districts need to “conduct a preliminary selection of people's proposals (for improvement), which will be included in the list for rating voting, publish them in the media, make public projects of public spaces taken on rating voting, equip the voting places, form accounting commissions and much more,” the website of the Tomsk Region administration said.

In total, the list of voting includes 50 sites, of which 12 were in the capital of the region. The design projects of improvement are not yet ready-they should appear by March 1. In Tomsk, the proposals for landscaping could be left in special cubes installed in the district administrations, several supermarkets, MFCs, libraries, etc. Tomsk citizens will be able to familiarize themselves with the design projects on the city hall’s website and on the rating voting on March 18.

It is officially not directly reported that the rating vote will take place at polling stations, but by telephone the administration of one of the districts said that voting forms would be issued in the same place where precinct election commissions are located. That is, those who want to influence the appearance of their area past the plots on this day will not pass.