Elections of the head of the Komi Republic (2014)

The last direct election of the head of the republic was held in 2001. Further, until 2012, the candidacy of the head of the Komi Republic was proposed to the State Council for approval by the president.

In January 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev submitted the candidature of Vyacheslav Gaizer to the consideration of the State Council of the Komi Republic to vest him with the powers of the head of the Komi Republic. On January 15, the deputies of the Komi State Council approved his candidacy for a 4-year term ^[3] . After the vote, the inauguration ceremony of the new head of the Komi Republic ^[4] .

In 2012, a law was passed, restoring the direct election of heads of regions, including the head of the Komi Republic. In 2013, amendments were made to federal legislation, according to which regional parliaments were given the right to independently determine the form of holding elections - the governor may be elected as deputies or citizens through direct elections. The State Council of the Komi Republic chose the second option.

Vyacheslav Gaizer’s powers expired on January 14, 2014. On the same day, President Vladimir Putin appointed him Acting Head of the Komi Republic before taking office as the elected head.

• On June 11, the State Council of the Komi Republic called elections for a single day of voting - September 14, 2014 (the appointment was possible from June 6 to 16)
• nomination of candidates began on June 11
• from July 5 to August 4 - registration of applications of candidates in the Komi Election Commission. The statements must be accompanied by sheets signed by the municipal deputies.
• September 13 - Day of Silence
• September 14 - Election Day

Nomination right

A citizen of the Russian Federation who has reached the age of 30 years is elected head of the republic.

In the Komi Republic, candidates are nominated only by political parties that have the right to participate in elections in accordance with federal laws. 69 Russian political parties had the right to nominate candidates. In Komi, there were 28 regional offices. In this case, candidates do not have to be a member of any party.

The candidate should not have the citizenship of a foreign state or a residence permit in any other country.

Since June 2013, the candidate for governor of the region is also obliged to submit to the election commission a written notice that he does not have accounts (deposits), does not store cash and valuables in foreign banks. All such accounts the candidate must close by the time of his registration.

Promotion support (municipal filter)

On June 1, 2012, a law came into force, returning direct elections of heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation . However, the so-called municipal filter was introduced. All candidates for the position of head of the subject of the Russian Federation (both nominated by parties and self-nominated candidates), according to the law, are required to collect in their support from 5% to 10% of signatures from the total number of municipal deputies and those elected at the elections of heads of municipalities, including from 5 to 10 deputies of representative bodies of municipal districts and urban districts, and elected at the elections of heads of municipal districts and urban districts. Municipal deputies have the right to support only one candidate. ^[five]

In the Komi Republic, candidates must collect the signatures of municipal deputies in the amount of 10% of the total. Of these, 10% should be deputies of district and city councils and (or) heads of districts and city districts. The rest may be deputies of rural settlements.

On June 11, 2014, the Republican Electoral Commission published a calculation of the number of required signatures. ^[6] So the candidate must collect at least 204 and not more than 214 signatures. Of these, at least 44 signatures should belong to deputies and elected heads of the city or district level and should be collected in at least 15 municipalities (in districts or cities). These signatures must be submitted with all documents no later than August 4.

Council Federation Candidates

Since December 2012, a new order of formation of the Federation Council has been in effect. So, each candidate for the post of head of the Komi Republic during registration must submit a list of three people, the first of whom, if elected candidate for the post of head, becomes a senator in the Council of Federation from the regional government.

In early August, one month before the election, the leader of the nationalist movement “North Frontier”, Alexei Kolegov, urged Komi residents to boycott the elections, since, in his opinion, real oppositionists were not allowed to take place before the elections due to the use of the “municipal filter”. ^[7] , ^[8] .

On the TV channel GTRK "Komi Gor" daily showed campaign advertising of candidates. On August 27, the pre-election debates of candidates for the post of the head took place on the same channel. During the debate, an incident occurred when candidate Evgeny Vologin (Right Cause) live splashed a glass of water in the face of Ilya Velichko (Fair Russia) ^[9] , ^[10] .

411,611 people took part in the elections, thus the voter turnout was 59.06%. Commenting on the election results, the chairman of the election commission, Elena Shabarshina, said that this is the highest electoral activity of the republic’s residents in the elections for the head of the Komi Republic in the entire history of their conduct. ^[12]

The election was won by Vyacheslav Gaizer, who collected 78.97% of the vote. On September 19, he assumed the position of the Head of the Komi Republic and on the same day appointed Vladimir Torlopov as the senator from the government of the Komi Republic ^[14] .

• Election Commission of the Komi Republic