FURTHER ELECTORAL LAW CHANGES: MORE LEVERS OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 012498

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM RS
SUBJECT: FURTHER ELECTORAL LAW CHANGES: MORE LEVERS OF
CENTRAL CONTROL

REF: MOSCOW 11388

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1. (SBU) Summary. A draft electoral law, which passed its
third and final Duma reading on November 17, contains vague
provisions which could be used to increase levers of central
control over the electoral process. The draft would allow
the exclusion of candidates who run negative TV ad campaigns
against their opponents and bar candidates guilty of
undefined "extremist" behavior. The same bill would do away
with requirements for minimum voter turnout. Senior figures,
including the Chairman of the Federation Council and the head
of the Central Election Commission (CEC),oppose the bill,
fearing it will further increase voter apathy. End Summary.


The Amendments
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2. (U) A working group of Duma deputies and Central Election
Commission (CEC) members resuscitated a draft electoral law
which passed its first reading in July 2006 despite forceful
objections by the CEC Chairman Aleksandr Veshnyakov. In the
first reading, the legislation had included amendments to the
Electoral Rights law that would have re-established early
voting and excluded candidates who had incorrectly filled out
their registration documents or been convicted of extremism.
At the time, Veshnyakov spoke out forcefully against the law
as discrediting the democratic process. (Reftel.)


3. (U) The Duma/CEC working group emerged with about a
hundred amendments on November 8. While the working group
dropped the early voting provision, it expanded the exclusion
provisions and introduced a new provision abolishing the
minimum required voter turnout. The exclusion provisions now
allow candidates who incorrectly fill out their registration
documents a chance to correct them. However, candidates may
now be excluded if they make negative comments about other
candidates in TV campaigns. The provisions dealing with
negative comments, while vague, forbid candidates from:
calling on voters to vote against another candidate;
describing the negative consequences of voting for an
opposing candidate; giving information about another
candidate with negative commentary; or, creating a negative
impression among voters about a certain candidate.
Candidates may also be barred if they have been
administratively punished for using Nazi slogans or other
undefined extremist behavior.


Supporters say...
--------------


4. (SBU) United Russia Duma Deputy Aleksandr Moskalets,
author of the voter turnout amendment, argued that other
democracies do not require minimum voter turnouts to validate
an election and that the bill is a sign of Russia's developed
democracy. Tapping his worn copy of the Russian
Constitution, he emphasized to us that all the election law
had to do was ensure that citizens had the right to go to the
polls and vote. He took issue with the notion that the
candidate exclusion amendments were draconian saying that if
candidates could prove that their accusations were true, then
they were within their rights to make them, but claimed the
burden of proof would be on the accuser. Finally, Moskalets
said the bill reflected the need to keep extremist sentiments
out of the political arena.


But Opposition Voices Fear...
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5. (U) Commentators' responses have focused on the removal of
the minimum voter requirement and been generally negative.
Many conclude that Russia is not ready to take this step.
They worry that Russia's apathetic electorate will see a
diminished role for itself and find even less reason to
participate. Therefore, the argument goes, only voters
subject to the pressure of administrative resources would
cast their ballots. Sergey Mironov, Chairman of the
Federation Council and leading architect of the new Just
Russia party, has also told the press that the removal of
minimum voter turnouts is premature.


6. (SBU) Sergey Reshulskiy, Communist Party Duma Deputy, was
unsparing to us in his criticism of the proposed amendments,
terming them absurd. He told us the exclusion provisions
would give unfettered power to the election commissions, as

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well as additional opportunities for corruption.


7. (SBU) Comment. Although the Federation Council (upper
house) is not in the habit of blocking legislation, Mironov's
opposition raises that possibility. More fundamentally, the
legislation would cede further power to electoral commissions
and regional courts to exclude candidates on vague grounds,
such as "negative" TV ads, leaving them considerable leeway
in interpretation.
BURNS