Translated material
Sleep of words and no resignation
Self -disclosure session of the Moscow City War
The latest statements and actions of election commissions confirm that structures intended to ensure elective rights of citizens have turned into a mechanism to limit these rights. It began with the fact that the chairman of the Moscow City Woman Valentin Gorbunov publicly spoke about refusals to register opposition candidates for the Moscow City Duma.
He gave a great interview to anyone, and the government “Russian newspaper”. And, on duty, having allegedly listed a lot of flaws who allowed the “refuseniks” in the collection of signatures, went to the main thing: political estimates. He explained why the opposition "for the most part could not collect the required number of signatures."
It turns out that “ these people did not have a goal of collecting the signature, or get into the proud -dummy. Why do they need this? After all, if their surnames would have appeared in ballots, they would have gained no more than 1% of the vote. This is the forecast of sociologists. How then to engage in politics, claiming that they are fighting for the future of Russia? They only need these elections as a way of running -in technology for elections to the State Duma, which will take place in 2021 ... ”
Firstly, no one knows the “forecasts of sociologists”, according to which Sergey Mitrokhin and Dmitry Gudkov, Ilya Yashin and Elena Rusakova, Lyubov Sobol and Kirill Goncharov, Julia Galyamin, Ivan Zhdanov and Anastasia Bryukhanova, other oppositionists enjoy such insignificant support. Moreover: if it were - there would be no such panic fear to allow them to the polls. But they are not allowed - and this is the best proof of the fact that the genuine support of the opposition is many times larger than the one that Gorbunov had from where.
And secondly, which is much more important-
Gorbunov’s statement would have to entail an immediate resignation.
The purpose of the work of the election commissions established by the federal law is as follows: “Commission ensures the exercise and protection of electoral rights and the right to participate in the referendum of citizens of the Russian Federation, carry out the preparation and conduct of elections and referenda in the Russian Federation”.
Once again in syllables: they provide the implementation and protection of electoral rights.
All, without exception, the election commission - starting with the CEC to the precinct commissions - are intended exclusively for this purpose.
Candidates have the right to take part in the elections, claiming the trust of voters.
Voters have the right to decide which of the candidates they trust.
Electoral commissions should organize the process of registration, voting and counting of votes, determining the results.
It’s not at all their business - to evaluate the goals of candidates for deputies and their chances.
The goals of the candidates should be evaluated by voters, the chances are sociologists.
Meanwhile, Gorbunov and his subordinates deprived hundreds of thousands of voters of the right to see his candidate in the ballot - refusing these candidates for registration.
And the chances of candidates depend on their election campaign, which Gorbunov and his subordinates do not allow.
This means that instead of the exercise and protection of electoral rights, the Moscow election committee engage in the exact opposite: they impede the exercise of electoral rights. Thus, the essence of the election is completely reveled, perverted.
A few days later, he connected the Central Election Commission, from whose members we learned a lot of interesting things from the members of the CEC working group on August 6.
When discussing the complaints of Elena Rusakova from Yabloko to refuse to register (part of her signatures were rejected due to the technical error of the notary), it turned out that she was to blame!
“How can one say that the candidate is not responsible for the notary? - taught Rusakov a member of the CEC Nikolai Levichv.
“If you are in the opposition, you must remember that for you the barrier is a little higher.”
“You came to the notary for the service. He provided her with you. You needed it. You followed, ”the deputy chairman of the CEC Nikolai Bulaev echoed him.
Rusakova’s attempts to explain that the candidate and his representatives are not notaries and do not know all the norms from the orders of the Ministry of Justice, were decisively suppressed by the harsh statement of Mr. Bulaev: “You should have verified yourself”, and the reproaches of the member of the Mosgorisbirkom Dmitry Reuta: “It was necessary to check that everything was according to the law.”
Actually, interference in the work of a notary is strictly prohibited. And certainly the candidate is not obliged to ensure that the notary does everything by law - he proceeds from the fact that the notary fulfills his duties, receiving, by the way, a lot of money. And he is responsible for this, up to the criminal.
When discussing the refusal to register the FBK Lyubov Lyubov, the head of the CEC Ella Pamfilova was indignant too quickly, allegedly, made by an independent handwriting examination, which refuted the examination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which rejected the signatures in support of Sobol. This examination, according to Pamfilova, was supposed to take at least two weeks, but took two days. The representative of Sobol noted that the experts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted their audit for four hours-but for some reason the CEC has no questions to them. In response, he was threatened to get out of the hall.
Well, when they discussed the complaint of Dmitry Gudkov, the mentioned Levichev reproached the representative of Gudkov in an attempt to bring the discussion “outside the legal field to the plane of sound logic”. Apparently, Levichv is inaccessible.
It is not necessary to think that this is happening only in Moscow - all the same is happening in St. Petersburg, where election commissions make inhuman efforts, desperately striving under any, most illegal and absurd, an excuse to refuse to register opposition candidates for municipal deputies.
They fight without sparing strength, and obviously consider it their genuine and main task. They whose function is to help candidates do everything to interfere with them.
They refuse the opposition in registration, they appeal in the courts the decisions of a higher commission on registering opposition candidates, they joyfully recognize claims in the courts to cancel the registration of oppositionists (even if they themselves were just forced to register them) ... and just like in the CEC they demonstrate monstrously perverted logic.
So, in the municipal district of “Marine” St. Petersburg, the election commission refuses to register the candidates from Yabloko for the fact that the commission allegedly was not notified of the party conference on the nomination of candidates. In fact, she was notified-they sent a telegram that the postman brought and handed it down, but then the election commander said that they were awarded to some kind of person. From the point of view of the law (Article 54 of the Civil Code, if that), no matter who was handed a telegram to the legal address of the commission: everything delivered is considered to be received. However, the court refuses the complaint of Yablochikov! Supposing: the post did not fulfill its duties, did not hand the election commission a telegram, but the candidates should be responsible for this - and they were correctly removed from the election. Like, Yabloko was supposed to check that the telegram was delivered. Have you checked? They themselves are to blame.
This is an absolutely inverted world. As if the doctor had prescribed you either the medicine, and after that it got worse. You go to complain - and they say to you:
They themselves are to blame, it was necessary to check that the doctor prescribes everything correctly!
And according to the same perverted logic, the candidate apparently also answered for the illegal decision of the court - it was obliged to make sure that the court did everything by law ...
Note that all the described did not begin now or even yesterday - for many years the Russian election commission, which should only organize the elections, instead, they solve political tasks obviously - because they are part of the system of reproduction of power, working to maintain it.
I can’t disagree with Leo Schlosberg: “There are election rights of individual citizens of Russia, which stubbornly and consistently protects the CEC and all lower commissions. And the list of these citizens is known - their election and provide all their resources of the CEC and all lower commissions ”...
Of course, a cardinal change in the electoral system has long rushed. It is necessary to radically simplify the legislation: the laws on elections are written in such a way that they are most reminiscent of the most complicated instruction in which the smallest violation of any absurd bureaucratic point leads to a fatal outcome - removal from the elections. It is necessary to facilitate the registration of candidates. Finally, it is necessary to change the mechanism of the formation of the election commission - only representatives of parties participating in the elections, and not officials or their guides, should be included there.
Recall: the most honest and free elections in Russian history were held in 1990 - when the election rules were as simple and understandable as possible, and the registration of candidates was extremely simple. And, despite the dozens of candidates in the ballot, the citizens well figured out everything - choosing those who were trusted.
The material was updated on August 8. Comments on the decision of the CEC are added to prevent independent candidates before elections to the Moscow City Duma. As well as examples from St. Petersburg practice of refusing to register for elections.