Military Elections bill

In December 2021, a bill on the regulation of remote electronic voting (DEG) was submitted to the State Duma. My colleagues and I sent a review to the State Duma, in which they gave a detailed assessment to the amendments, which are laid the basis for the DEG systems opaque and inaccessible for inspections and the application of systems and did not recommend the bill in the first reading.

The bill in the first reading was eventually adopted. Then my colleagues and I sent a large package of amendments to the State Duma. As a result, our proposals rejected, but the amendments approved by the State Duma committee replaced the concept of the bill, starting with the replacement of its name and the inclusion of many issues in no way related to DEG, ending with the introduction of a new register of foreign agents.

There were no significant tools for transparency and observation of DEG in the bill, but the approved amendments cause a crushing blow to observe classical voting.

For precinct and territorial commissions, the status of a member of the commission with the right of deliberative vote is abolished. This means that the ability to watch the elections is more than doubled by society. It is this status that is mainly used by candidates for real control, since he, unlike the observer, made it possible to get acquainted with documents, receive their copies. The specified status is maintained only in the CEC and regional commissions, however, with highly cut rights, for example, such members of the commissions cannot ask questions or check the correctness of the counting.

The obligation to provide candidates for observer lists - no later than three days before the voting day, which has been installed for observers in the district commissions for six years, is now being extended to the territorial commissions. The submission of lists in three days lead to the fact that falsifiers know in advance in which areas there will be no observers, moreover, there are examples when pressure is in advance on the observers in order to force them to refuse to observe.

The possibilities for removing observers and removing members of the commissions from work are expanded not only in voting premises, but also in the premises in which protocols and drawing up protocols on the results of voting around the territory are taken.

In cities, with the number of voters over 500 thousand, the creation of "rubber" polling stations with the number of voters is more than 3 thousand people. This will significantly complicate control over the procedures, since when enlarging the areas, the number of observers is reduced. The formal increase in the number of observers from each candidate does not change anything, since only one of them can still work in the room.

In addition, the terms of deprivation of passive suffrage for convicts under extremist articles are increasing - until five years from the date of removal or repayment of criminal record.

The deposition of voting in the elections when introducing an increased readiness or emergency is simplified. Now this can be done without a threat to the life and health of voters.

Adjusted amendments suggest a number of other changes (for example, commissions of municipalities are abolished).

In recent years, a systematic restriction of the Company in the observation of the elections has occurred: the ban on public video broadcasts, attacks on observation organizations, inciting conflicts between commissions and observers, the introduction of accreditation and qualification of elections for journalists to cover the elections, the introduction of preliminary registration of observers, and now the abolition of the most important and effective status of a commission member with the right of a deliberative Voices.

In my opinion, dismantling the remnants of control tools, along with the refusal of the legislative consolidation of clear DEG control procedures, is aimed at emagging elections, turning them into an analogue of Belarusian, with all the ensuing consequences.

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