The principle of equal suffrage - the principle of suffrage , according to which all voters participate in elections on an equal basis. The fundamental principle of the electoral system is the principle of equal suffrage. It is enshrined in the constitutions of most democratic states, a number of fundamental international acts establishes the obligation to observe this principle in elections.
In Part 1 of Art. 81 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation it is fixed that the election of the President of the Russian Federation is held on the basis of the principles of universal, equal, direct suffrage, the principle of secret voting. In Art. 5 of the Federal Law of June 12, 2002 No. 67-FZ “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in the Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation” (as amended on December 5, 2006, hereinafter - the Law “On Basic Guarantees ...”) contains the following definition of the principle of equal suffrage: “Citizens of the Russian Federation participate in elections on an equal footing”.
Content
Approaches to understanding the principle
However, despite this normative definition, there is no single approach to understanding the principle of equal suffrage in the Russian scientific literature.
Narrow [1]
Many scientists believe that this principle establishes only equality of active suffrage (the principle of equality of votes, equal voting rights ) [2] . This view arose earlier than the rest.
The following concept has been spread to this day: the principle of equal suffrage concerns the scope of the implementation of subjective suffrage at the voting stage. To preserve such equality, certain guarantees are necessary (establishing equal “weight” and number of votes, ensuring equal legal opportunities for electing candidates) [3] . Voters have an equal number of votes and are included in only one voter list. Candidates, on the other hand, have the same legal options for election, so they can usually run for office in only one district. The listed guarantees ensure equal participation of citizens in elections in the narrow sense of the word, that is, in voting, in which the rights to elect and be elected are directly exercised.
Wide [4]
On the other hand, some scientists began to adhere to another point of view: the principle of equal electoral law establishes equal legal conditions for citizen participation in voting, as well as in the procedure for nominating candidates, in carrying out election campaigns.
According to a broad understanding, equal participation of citizens should be established not only at the listed stages of the electoral process, but generally in the entire electoral process as a whole (that is, in elections in the broad sense of the word) [5] . Some authors believe that the principle of equal suffrage establishes equality of the status of individual and collective participants in the electoral process. Consequently, this wording can mean the establishment of equality not only of electoral rights, but also of duties, grounds for the emergence of legal personality, and bringing to justice. Moreover, such equality must be observed both in relation to citizens and in relation to their associations (parties).
Foreign States
Many foreign countries adhere to the traditional narrow approach. Moreover, the legislative acts of some states stipulate that the principle of equal suffrage proclaims only equality of active suffrage. In the legislation of foreign countries, as a rule, there is no definition of the principle of equal suffrage. But an analysis of the legislative provisions of some regulatory acts allows us to conclude that equal voting right means only the establishment of equal voting rights. The provisions on equality of passive electoral law from the point of view of foreign legislation are the scope of a different principle, the principle of equality of candidates [6] .
It is believed that the principle of equal suffrage establishes the equality of the rights of individual subjects ( citizens ); equality of collective subjects is enshrined in another principle - the principle of equality of electoral associations. Thus, in the Russian Federation at the end of the 20th century, there was a departure from the classical narrow approach to understanding the principle of equal suffrage to an intermediate one. Moreover, there is a tendency to further expand the content of the principle of equal suffrage, recognition of a broad approach. Authors who adhere to a broad approach insist that the electoral law should have a principle establishing equal legal statuses of individual and collective participants in the electoral process. The formula "the principle of equal suffrage" does not imply the establishment of equality of duties, the grounds for the emergence of the electoral legal personality of citizens. In the most important international acts, the principle of equal suffrage is separated from the principle of universality (it is believed that these are two independent principles). A broad approach is based on another view: the principle of universality is only part of the principle of equal suffrage. It is obvious that a broad approach contradicts the provisions of the most important international acts .
Notes
- ↑ Legal Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ed. O.E. Kutafina. - M. , 2012. - p. 34.
- ↑ V.Pylin. Electoral and Referendum Law of the Russian Federation. - SPb. , 2011. - p. 64.
- ↑ Scientific and practical commentary to the Constitution of the Russian Federation / Ed. ed. L.V. Lazarev. - M. , 2013.
- ↑ Krylov B. S. Problems of Equality and Equality in Russian Constitutional Law / Journal of Russian Law. 2001. No. 11. P.19
- Collection of regulatory legal acts of foreign electoral legislation / Ed. ed. A.A. Veshnyakov. - M. , 2014. - p. 11.
- Collection of regulatory legal acts of foreign electoral legislation / Ed. ed. A. A. Veshnyakov. M., 2004. p. 183, 289, 362-363.