Analytical Report №1. Local Elections on September 13, 2015, Russian Federation

The Interregional Public Foundation for Civil Society Development “Golos-Ural,” a subsection of the Movement for the Defence of Voters' Rights “Golos” (hereinafter referred to as “Golos”) conducts a long-term election observation program for the elections scheduled in the Russian Federation for September 13, 2015. “Golos” is monitoring the regional and municipal election campaigns in 21 regions: Vladimir, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kostroma, Kurgan, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Nizhnyi Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Samara, Tomsk, Chelyabinsk, Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Mari El, and the Republic of Tatarstan.

Golos monitors:

• 10 out of 21 elections for federal region heads;
• 8 out of 11 elections for federal representative bodies;
• 14 out of 25 elections for representative bodies of the regional capitals (including Samara and Makhachkala).

In addition, Golos analyses information from other regions by using the "Map of Violations,” an information resource available at www.kartanarusheniy.org.

“Golos” is planning to release weekly analytical reports on long-term election monitoring and the election campaign for the upcoming one-day voting on September 13.

1. Executive Summary

“Golos” draws public attention to deviations from the principles and standards of democratic elections, primarily evident in the manipulation of electoral law for political reasons shortly before the elections and in the creation of unequal conditions for access to administrative resources, designed to favor certain candidates and parties.

Of particular concern are incidents of pressure and intimidation of observers: mass removal of public observers under various pretexts from the voting premises, and beatings of observers. “Golos” activists suffer systematic persecution.

While monitoring the preparation and appointment processes of the election campaign for the 13 September 2015 election at its initial stage we have identified the following trends and patterns:

• Instability of regional legislation regarding the organization of the electoral process and the local government; the changes occur on a regular basis and are manipulative in nature.
• Absence of legal guarantees securing public election observation;
• Failure to comply with the presumption of equality of candidates and political parties;
• Instability of regional and organizational election commissions;
• Growing popularity and increasing importance of early voting (primaries); the primaries are not legally defined and are not governed by the laws on elections and political parties.

Read the full version – Analytical Report №1. Local Elections on September 13, 2015 Russian Federation (PDF, 112 KB)