Local referendum in the Russian Federation

The initiative to hold a referendum is entitled:

1) citizens of the Russian Federation entitled to participate in a local referendum. In this case, an initiative group is formed to conduct a local referendum in the amount of at least 10 people.

2) election associations, other public associations (subject to the collection of the required number of signatures); As the initiative group, the governing body of the corresponding election association acts here.

3) the representative body of the municipality and the head of the local administration are entitled to put forward the initiative jointly.

The initiative group applies to the election commission of the municipality with a request for registration of the group. The application must contain: a question for a referendum, last name, first name, patronymic, passport details of each member of the initiative group. An application shall be attached to the minutes of the meeting of the referendum initiative group, at which a decision was made to put forward an initiative to hold a referendum.

The commission is obliged to review the application and the documents attached to it within 15 days and decide:

• if the application and documents comply with the requirements of federal legislation, the subject and the charter of the municipality - on sending them to the representative body of the municipality;
• in case of non-compliance - on the refusal of registration (the refusal can be appealed to the court in the manner prescribed by law )

The representative body of the municipality is obliged to verify the compliance of the issue proposed for a referendum with the requirements of federal law. The inspection period may not exceed 20 days from the date of receipt of the application by the initiative group for the referendum and documents attached to it to the appropriate body. If the representative body recognizes that the issue meets all the requirements, the election commission registers the initiative group, issues it a registration certificate (it is valid for the period established by the charter of the municipality, but not less than one month), and also reports this to the media.

If the question does not meet all the requirements of federal law, the commission issues a decision to the initiative group, which indicates the grounds for refusal.

To call a referendum, the initiative group must submit to the representative body of the municipality the signatures of the referendum participants in support of the initiative for holding it.

The required number of signatures is established by the law of the subject of the Russian Federation, while it cannot exceed 5% of the number of referendum participants who are registered in the territory of the referendum, and cannot be less than 25 signatures. The collection of signatures is possible from the day following the day of registration of the initiative group. The period for collecting signatures is also established by the law of the subject and cannot be less than 20 days.

The law of the subject of the Russian Federation establishes a procedure for verifying compliance with the procedure for collecting signatures, issuing subscription lists, and the reliability of information about participants.

The compliance of the procedure for putting forward a referendum initiative with the requirements of the law and the charter of a municipality is established by the referendum commission within 15 days from the day the initiative group submits signature sheets and a protocol on the results of the collection of signatures. The commission sends signature sheets, a copy of the protocol and a copy of its decision to the representative body of the municipality, which is authorized to decide on the referendum. In case of violation of the requirements of the law, the commission has the right to refuse to hold a referendum.

The representative body is obliged to call a local referendum within 30 days from the date of receipt of the documents prescribed by law in the representative body. If the local referendum is not appointed by the representative body in a timely manner, the referendum is appointed by the court .

The legislator has established requirements for voting day. For example, referendum voting can only be scheduled for Sunday . However, there are other restrictions (Article 15 of the Federal Law ). The decision to call a local referendum is subject to official publication in the media at least 45 days before voting day.

Registration (accounting) of referendum participants residing in the territory of the municipality is carried out by the head of the local administration . The registration of referendum participants and the establishment of the number of registered participants are carried out as of January 1 and July 1 of each year using the GAS "Vybory" . The list of participants includes citizens of the Russian Federation who, on voting day, have the right to participate in a referendum.

If, according to the agreement of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens have the right to participate in a local referendum, then foreign citizens who have reached the age of 18 years and have permanently resided in the territory of this municipality are included in the lists of referendum participants.

Servicemen who are doing military service on conscription in the territory of the respective municipality, if their place of residence was not located on the territory of the municipality before conscription, are not included in the lists of referendum participants and are not taken into account when determining the number of participants in a local referendum.

Referendum precincts are formed for voting and vote counting as agreed with the referendum commissions by the head of the local administration (head of the executive-administrative body) of the municipality based on no more than three thousand referendum participants at each referendum precinct.

Information support includes informing referendum participants, campaigning on referendum issues. Informing the participants is carried out by local authorities, commissions, organizations engaged in the release of mass media, individuals and legal entities. The content of information materials should be objective and reliable.

Campaigning on the issue (s) of the referendum may be conducted :

• on the channels of broadcasting organizations, in periodicals and online publications;
• through campaigning public events;
• through the release and distribution of printed, audiovisual and other campaign materials;
• other methods not prohibited by law.

The campaign period for the initiative group, as well as other groups of referendum participants, begins on the day of registration of the corresponding group. The campaign period ends at zero hours local time on the day preceding the voting day. Campaigning on the channels of broadcasting organizations, in periodicals and in online publications is carried out in a period that begins 28 days before the day of voting and ends at zero hours local time on the day preceding the day of voting.

The costs of campaigning on referendum issues are made exclusively from the funds of the respective referendum funds. Public authorities, local authorities, military units, military institutions and organizations, charitable and religious organizations, as well as other persons specified in the law, are prohibited from campaigning .

The procedure for conducting a local referendum is determined by the relevant law of the subject of the Russian Federation.

For example, the Law of the Samara Region dated 11.02.2004 No. 12-GD “On the Local Referendum of the Samara Region” entrusts the preparation and conduct of a referendum to the Election Commission of the Samara Region, the election commission of a municipal formation, territorial, precinct election commissions that act as referendum commissions.

Voting is carried out in the polling station , which has a hall with places for secret voting (for example, booths), equipped with a lighting system and writing instruments. The start and end time of voting is established by the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, while the duration of voting cannot be less than ten hours .

When conducting a referendum on one issue, the referendum participant receives one ballot. At the same time, each referendum participant votes in person; voting for other referendum participants is not allowed. Ballots shall be issued to referendum participants included in the list of referendum participants upon presentation of a passport or a document replacing a citizen's passport.

A referendum participant who, for good reason, will be absent from his place of residence and will not be able to arrive at the polling station in the referendum precinct where he is included in the list of referendum participants, is entitled to vote ahead of schedule by filling out a ballot in the premises of the territorial referendum commission (for 10 - 4 days prior to voting day) or a district referendum commission (3 days or less before voting day).

The precinct commission draws up a decision on the voting results with a protocol in the corresponding referendum precinct. The first copy signed by all the members of the precinct commission present is sent to the higher election commission. The second is presented for review by observers, foreign observers, and representatives of the media.

The results of the referendum are determined by the election commission of the municipality on the basis of the first copies of the protocols on the voting results.

A referendum is considered valid if more than half of the referendum participants included in the lists of referendum participants participated in it. The Commission recognizes the decision as adopted if more than half of those who participated in the referendum voted for it.

The Commission recognizes the voting results as invalid :

• if the violations made during the voting do not allow to determine with confidence the results of the will of the referendum participants;
• in the event that they are recognized invalid on parts of the referendum precincts, the lists of referendum participants in which at the time of the end of the vote together include at least one fourth of the total number of referendum participants included in the lists of referendum participants at the end of the vote;
• By the tribunal's decision.

In such a situation, the commission organizing the referendum vote appoints a second vote. Official publication of the results of the referendum is carried out by the election commission of the municipality in the manner and within the time periods established by the law of the subject of the Russian Federation.

The decision taken at the referendum is binding and does not need additional approval. It is valid throughout the territory of the municipality and is registered in the manner established for the registration of regulatory legal acts of local authorities. The cancellation or amendment of the decision taken at the referendum is possible by making another decision at the referendum, but not earlier than two years after its adoption or is recognized as invalid (invalid) in court.

1. The Federal Law "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in the Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation" dated 12.06.2002 N 67-ФЗ

2. Federal Law "On the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation" dated 10.10.2003 N 131-ФЗ

3. State Automated System of the Russian Federation "Elections"

1. Kutafin O.E., Fadeev V.I. Municipal law of the Russian Federation: textbook. - 3rd ed., Revised. and add. - M.: TC Velby, Prospect Publishing House, 2008 .-- S. 142 - 162.

2. Kozlova EI, Kutafin OE Constitutional law of Russia: textbook. - 2nd ed., Revised and add. - M.: Lawyer, 1999.