Electoral systems

Exists two main electoral systems - majoritarian and proportional.

In turn, the majority system is divided into the following main types:

Majority system of the relative majority. Under this system, the candidate who receives more votes than any of his rivals is considered elected.

Under such a system, elections are usually held in single-member constituencies, that is, one deputy is elected from the constituency. Counties are much less common multi-member when several deputies are elected from the district. An example is the election of a presidential electoral college in the United States in a state or federal district that has contested electoral lists.

As a rule, such a system does not establish a mandatory minimum for voters to vote.

The advantage of this system is that the elections are held in one round.

The main disadvantage of this system is that the deputy is elected by a relative majority of votes. An absolute majority can vote against, but their votes are lost. In addition, MPs nominated by small parties tend to lose elections and these parties lose representation. However, the winning party often provides an absolute majority in parliament and can form a stable government.

Majority system of absolute majority. Under this system, more than half of the popular vote is required to be elected.

The absolute majority can be threefold:

a) from the number of registered voters;

Under such a system, there is usually a lower threshold for voter participation in the vote. If it is not achieved, the elections are declared invalid or invalid.

Elections are usually held in single-member constituencies.

Disadvantages of this system:

a) the party that received the majority of votes in the country may not receive the largest number of seats in parliament;

c) ineffectiveness of elections, especially with a large number of candidates. If none of the candidates receives the required number of votes in the first round, a second round (repeat voting) is held, in which, as a rule, the two candidates who received the largest number of votes in the first round participate (re-ballot).

The main ways to overcome ineffectiveness are as follows:

a) to be elected in the second round, it is enough to obtain a relative majority of votes;

b) alternative voting. This system can be seen on the example of Australia. When voting, voters place numbers according to their preference (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). If none of the candidates gains an absolute majority, then a redistribution of votes between the candidates is carried out, starting with the one with the smallest number according to the first two preferences indicated in his ballots, until one of the candidates gains the required number of votes.

Qualified Majority System... To be elected under this system, it is necessary to gain 2/3 of the votes cast. Sometimes the law can determine a different percentage of the vote.

A kind of majoritarian system is the cumulative vote and the system of a single non-transferable vote.

Cumulative vote- each voter in a multi-mandate constituency has as many votes as candidates should be elected, or another number established by law, but it is equal for all voters. A voter can give one vote to several candidates or give all votes to one candidate. Such a system is found in elections to self-government bodies in some states of Germany.

Single non-transferable voice system (semi-proportional)- in a multi-mandate constituency, a voter votes for only one candidate from a particular party list. Candidates are considered elected if they receive more votes than others, i.e. when determining the results of voting, the principle of the majority system of relative majority is applied.

Proportional representation system of political parties.

The essence of this system is that the number of deputy mandates received by a party is proportional to the number of votes cast for it. Parties put forward lists of candidates and voters vote not for specific candidates, but for a list of candidates from the party.

Candidate lists can be linked or free. With a linked list, the voter has no right to make changes to the lists submitted by the parties. With free lists, voters have this right.

The main advantage of the system is the guaranteed representation of even small parties that still have their own electorate.

The disadvantages of the proportional representation system include the following:

a) the instability of parliament, where no party or their coalition can get a stable majority;

b) the voter may not know all the candidates from the supported party, that is, in fact, he votes for a certain party, and not for specific candidates;

c) the system can only be applied in multi-member constituencies. The larger the district, the more proportionality can be achieved.

The main means of overcoming these shortcomings are the electoral quota and the method of divisors.

Electoral quota (electoral meter) is the minimum number of votes required to elect one candidate.

Divisor method consists in sequentially dividing the number of votes received by each list of candidates by a certain series of dividers. Depending on which dividers are installed, large or small batches will benefit. The smallest divisor is the electoral quota. If an independent candidate is nominated, he must receive the established quota of votes.

Barrage point may restrict the participation of parties in the distribution of deputy mandates on two grounds:

a) those parties that did not receive a single mandate in the first distribution are not allowed to participate in the second distribution of mandates, although they may have significant balances;

b) most often, parties that have not received a certain percentage of votes are excluded from the distribution of mandates.

This disadvantage is overcome in the following ways:

Linking candidate lists (blocking)- the bloc's parties run in elections with common lists of candidates, and after the general list has received a certain number of mandates, they distribute these mandates among themselves.

Panning- the right of a voter to vote for candidates from different lists or to add new candidates to these lists. Panaching can be applied under the majority system with multi-member constituencies or under the proportional system. In a proportional system, panaching can be combined with preferential voting.

Mixed (majority proportional systems)... In a mixed system, most often half of the deputies are elected according to the majority system of the relative majority, and the other half - according to the proportional one.

For the functioning of the political system of any state, it is important electoral systems, used in the formation of the composition of central and local representative institutions, as well as elected officials.

The term "electoral system" has two s values.

First, in broad sense of the electoral system is understood the totality of public relations arising in the process of elections at various levels: federal, regional, municipal.

It is in this sense that the term "electoral system of Russia" is used in the media on the eve of or during the election campaign for the elections to the State Duma or the President of the Russian Federation, a representative body of a constituent entity of the Federation or local self-government.

Secondly, in narrow sense of the term "electoral system" is way of distributing mandates between candidates or lists of candidates.

And if the electoral system in the broad sense can include relations both regulated and not regulated by the norms of law, then in the narrow sense the electoral system is always a set of rules, procedures, criteria established by electoral legislation, with the help of which the voting results are determined.

The use of one or another electoral system is to a certain extent the result of the correlation of political forces in society. Depending on which electoral system is used, the election results with the same voting results may be different. Weighing their capabilities within the framework of each type of electoral system, political forces choose the most advantageous option for forming an elected body.

The most common are two kinds electoral systems: majority and proportional, and in a number of countries, including the Russian Federation, a third type is used - mixed electoral system (combination of majority and proportional).

Electoral systems that are used to determine the voting results majority principle, called majority,

and those based on conformity principle(proportionality) between the votes received and the seats won, bear the name proportional NS.

The majoritarian electoral system is considered the oldest: it was from this system that parliamentary elections began. It contributes to the creation of a stable government based on the majority party, it is based on the principle of the majority, i.e. The candidate (list of candidates) who receives the majority of votes in the constituency (or in the country as a whole) is considered elected.

Over a rather long historical period of application of the majority system, her three options, or three types of majority: relative, absolute and qualifying.

Majority system of the relative majority used in many countries (USA. Great Britain, India, countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal system).

Before the adoption of the new Federal Law on May 18, 2005, half of the deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and most of the legislative (representative) bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, representative bodies of local self-government were elected in the Russian Federation according to the majority electoral system of the relative majority. The 2002 Federal Law on the Election of Deputies to the State Duma stipulated that a registered candidate who received the largest number of votes cast by voters who took part in voting is recognized as elected in a single-mandate constituency.

Thus, under this system, a candidate (list of candidates) must receive more votes than any other candidate (list) to be elected. Under such a system, the winner can be a candidate who receives only 10-12% of the vote. It is important that no other candidate receives more votes (if several candidates receive the same number of votes, then the issue is decided by lot or by the registration period).

Usually, under a majority system of a relative majority, elections are held in single-member constituencies, although multi-member constituencies can also be formed. Thus, in some regions of Russia in municipal elections there are examples of the creation of such constituencies. For example, in the Yaroslavl region, the city of Psreslavl-Zalessky was declared one multi-member electoral district, in which the number of candidates was elected, equal to the collective of deputy seats in the city representative body of local self-government.

Dignity the majority system of the relative majority is its efficiency- someone will always gain a relative majority. This eliminates a burdensome and costly second round of elections (re-voting) for voters. The application of this system gives good results in a two-party system, when there are only two rivals of candidates. But when there are many candidates and voters are scattered among them, this system radically distorts the will of the electoral corps. Even under the bipartisan system in Great Britain, there have been cases where candidates from one party received generally fewer votes nationally, but more seats in the House of Commons.

Disadvantage The system under consideration is that it deprives small parties of representation and gives a distorted idea of the actual balance of political forces, since candidates who are supported by less than half of the voters win. Votes of voters cast “against” the winning candidate are lost, are not counted, i.e. the will of the majority does not find its expression in elections.

Majority system of absolute majority is also quite common. It is sometimes called the French model, as it is traditionally used in France and in the territories formerly dependent on France. Under this system, to be elected, it is necessary to obtain at least 50% (at least 50% plus one vote) of all the votes cast. At the same time, the electoral legislation of the countries where this system is applied emphasizes that a majority of valid votes are required for election, while invalid ballots are excluded from the count.

This system does not always bring results the first time around, since with a large number of candidates, votes are distributed among all candidates in such a way that none of them gets the required majority of 50%. Under this system, a second round of voting (repeat voting) is usually held between the two candidates with the highest number of votes. As a result, it is easier for one of them to get an absolute majority of votes.

In a number of countries, repeated elections may be held in this case. So, in our country, according to the 1978 laws on elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, if none of the candidates for deputies running in the constituency was elected, it was repeated elections that were envisaged, i.e. all electoral procedures were carried out: nomination and registration of candidates, campaigning, voting. The same rules were established by the legislation on elections to Soviets at all levels - from regional (territorial) to rural (settlement). This system existed until the end of the 80s of the XX century, i.e. until the principle of mandatory alternative elections was established by law (before that, only one candidate was nominated in each electoral district, who was a candidate for a single bloc of communists and non-party people, whose election was, as a rule, predetermined).

Currently, the majoritarian electoral system of the absolute majority is used in the Russian Federation during the elections of the President of Russia. The 2002 Federal Law "On Elections of the President of the Russian Federation" establishes that a registered candidate who has received more than half of the votes cast by voters who took part in the voting is considered elected. The number of voters who took part in the voting is determined by the number of ballots of the established form found in the ballot boxes.

The law establishes that if more than two registered candidates were included in the ballot paper and none of them was elected to the office of President of the Russian Federation based on the results of the general elections, then the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation shall appoint a repeat vote (i.e., the second round of voting) in two registered candidates with the highest number of votes. A repeat vote is set if there is a written application from a registered candidate for consent to hold a repeat vote on his candidacy. If, prior to the second round, one of the registered candidates for which the vote is to be held withdrew or left for other reasons, his seat, by decision of the CEC of the Russian Federation, is transferred to the next registered candidate in terms of the number of votes received after the candidacies for which the CEC originally scheduled a second vote ( subject to his written consent to conduct a repeat voting on his candidacy).

According to the results of the repeated voting, a registered candidate is considered elected to the post of President of the Russian Federation, who received a larger number of votes during the voting; in the second round, in this case, a relative majority of votes is sufficient, therefore such a system is called a “system of two rounds”.

Repeated voting may be held for one candidate in the event that after the withdrawal of registered candidates, only one candidate remains. In this case, a registered candidate is considered elected to the office of President of the Russian Federation if he receives at least 50% of the votes of voters who took part in the voting. Repeated voting for the elections of the President of the Russian Federation has been held since 1991.

An absolute majority electoral system has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Her dignity it is believed that when used in parliamentary elections, it allows you to create a strong, stable government, based on a majority in parliament. Flaw is that, as in the plurality system, the votes cast for defeated candidates are lost, and these voters will not get their candidate into parliament. In addition, this system is less effective, which makes it necessary to conduct repeated voting, in which, as we have seen, the outcome of the elections can be established in accordance with the plurality system.

The third type of majority electoral system is qualified majority system, which is even more ineffective, therefore it is rarely used. Under this system, the law sets a certain percentage of the vote that a candidate (list of candidates) must receive in order to be elected. This percentage is usually greater than the absolute majority, i.e. more than 50% plus one vote, but it may be different. So, in Italy, before the reform of the electoral system in 1993, which amended the current Constitution of 1947 and changed the procedure for determining the results of elections to the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, a candidate for senators had to receive at least 65% of all votes cast, which unrealistic (at best, seven out of 315 senators were elected). The Italian president is elected by parliament through a qualified majority system. A two-thirds majority of the assembly of deputies is required to win. After the third round, if no one has won, an absolute majority is provided, i.e. 50% plus one vote. In the absence of agreement between political groupings and factions, presidential elections often required a very large number of rounds. for example, in 1971, 23 rounds were held.

If no one wins in the first round under the majoritarian system of the qualified majority, the second round follows, which usually takes place one to two weeks later. In the second round, two candidates with the largest number of votes in the first round are proposed for a new vote.

But the second round can be organized differently. The percentage of voters under a qualified majority system may not be determined by the number of voters, but by the number of all registered voters. Thus, in Costa Rica, a candidate for the post of President of the country must gain 40% plus one vote of all registered voters (Article 138 of the Constitution).

Proportional electoral system p It avoids many of the disadvantages inherent in the majority system.

This system was first used at the end of the 19th century. in a number of countries: in Serbia since 1888, Belgium since 1889, in some Swiss cantons since 1891-1893, in Finland since 1906

The main thing in a proportional system is not the establishment of a majority of votes, but the calculation electoral quota (electoral meter). This is the number of votes required to elect at least one deputy from one or another list of candidates nominated by a political party or electoral bloc.

Seats are allocated by the respective election commission (district, central) in proportion to the votes collected by each party. To distribute them, the commission first calculates the electoral quota. It is obtained by dividing the total number of votes cast and validated by the number of deputy seats (mandates) in a given constituency. Ego is the easiest way to calculate the quota (T. Hare's method). For example, in a constituency, 180,000 votes were cast during the elections, and nine seats in the House are to be replaced. Consequently, the electoral quota will be equal to 180,000: 9 = 20,000 votes.

After determining the electoral quota from each party list, deputy mandates receive as many candidates as the number of times the electoral quota fits into the number of votes collected by the party in the elections.

If in the electoral district three parties fought for nine deputy mandates and 60,000 voters voted for the list of party A, 80,000 voters for the list of party B, and 40,000 voters for party C, then the deputy mandates will be distributed as follows: party A will receive 3 seats, since the electoral quota fit in the number of votes she collected three times (60,000: 20,000 = 3); Party B will receive 4 seats (80,000: 20,000 = 4); Party B will receive two seats (40,000: 20,000 = 2). In our example, based on the voting results, all nine seats were distributed. However, this is an ideal option, and almost always there is a situation in which the electoral quota does not fit a whole number of times in the number of votes collected by each party.

Let's consider the situation with another example. Three parties are competing for five mandates. In the constituency, 180,000 votes were cast. These votes were distributed as follows:

The distribution of mandates between party lists is made by dividing the votes they received by the electoral quota. Thus, the results will look like this: batch A - 86,000: 36,000 = 2, 3889; batch B - 22,000: 36,000 = = 0.6111; party C - 72,000: 36,000 = 2. Thus, party A won 2 mandates, party B - 0, party C - 2. Four mandates out of five were distributed.

The question of how to account for these balances is one of the most difficult in determining the results of elections under the proportional system. There are usually two methods for allocating residuals: the largest residual method and the largest average method. The first - the method of the largest balance - consists in the fact that unallocated mandates are transferred to the parties with the largest balance, formed as a result of dividing the votes received by the party list by the electoral quota. According to this method, the unallocated mandate will be transferred to Party B, since its remainder is the largest.

The second method - the largest average - is that the undistributed mandates are transferred to the parties with the largest average. This average is calculated by dividing the number of votes received by the party by the number of mandates already received by the party list, increased by one.

The largest average of batch A will be 86,000: (2 + 1) = 28.6667; batch B - 22,000: (0 + 1) = 22,000; batch B - 72,000: (2 + 1) = 24,000.

Thus, party A. has the highest average. It will receive one mandate not distributed at the first attempt. As we can see, the results on the distribution of mandates turned out to be different when using different methods. The largest balance rule is most beneficial for small parties, and the largest average rule is most beneficial for larger parties.

The method proposed by the Belgian scientist has become more widespread among the options for calculating the electoral quota. d "Ondtom(method of divisors), which allows you to immediately distribute all the mandates in the constituency. Its essence is as follows: the number of votes received by each party list by constituency is divided sequentially by 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. up to the figure corresponding to the number of lists. The resulting numbers are arranged in descending order. That particular, which in order of magnitude corresponds to the number of mandates in a given electoral district, is an electoral quota.

We arrange the resulting quotients in descending order and establish that the fifth place in order is occupied by the number 28 667. This is the quota. We divide the votes received by the parties into a quota, and determine that the parties received the following number of seats: party A - 3, party B - 0, party C - 2.

Another method is used mainly in state districts, where places remained unallocated not because of the application of a quota, but because of the "action of a protective barrier (usually such a barrier is set at the level of three to five percent. The seven percent threshold has been established by Liechtenstein legislation and since 2007 - in RF).

The protective barrier meets the desire to create conditions for the effective work of the parliament, when it is primarily comprised of parties representing the interests of large groups of the population and creating large parliamentary factions. It also discourages small parties from entering parliament and encourages the process of merging or blocking them with larger ones. At the same time, the protective barrier is a kind of restriction of democracy, since its effect deprives small parties, which are supported by a certain percentage of the population, of the right to participate in the distribution of parliamentary mandates. Thus, the will of the voters who voted for this party is not taken into account at all. In the Russian Federation, opponents of the 5% threshold applied to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, seeking to abolish the relevant provision of electoral legislation. However, the Constitutional Court refrained from recognizing the barrier as unconstitutional.

The barrier means that parties with less than the statutory percentage of votes are not allowed to be allocated seats. In this case, the remaining unallocated mandates are transferred to the parties that have overcome the barrier, in proportion to the number of votes collected by these parties. The more the party received votes, the more, in proportion to this, it will receive seats from the reserve of unallocated deputy mandates.

In a proportional system, the voter often votes not for an individual, candidates or party leader he likes, but for the party's program. By voting, he supports politics

a particular party (electoral bloc). How to distribute voter votes among specific candidates on party lists.

This issue is resolved in the electoral legislation in different ways. Firstly, there is the principle of priority of candidates on the list: mandates are awarded to the limes who are in the first places on the party list and, therefore, on the ballot paper. The order of the candidate in the list is determined by the party and the candidates occupying the first serial numbers in the list become deputies. As a rule, these are the leaders of the parties (associations), the persons directing their policies.

Secondly, the voter may be given the opportunity to change the order of the candidates on the list by means of a preferential (preferred) vote. It allows a voter to vote for a particular party and, at the same time, give preference to a particular candidate or candidates from a given party list. When voting for the list of “his” party, a voter can mark with numbers 1.2.3 those persons whom he would like to see elected in the first place. In this case, the electoral commission must count the number of different preferences and declare as elected those who have collected more of the first, then the second, etc. preferences

The number of persons elected in this way, of course, depends on the number of seats that the party is entitled to in accordance with the quota. However, the law usually does not allow many preferences; in Austria, for example, the voter is allowed to indicate only one.

Mixed the electoral system assumes the simultaneous use in the country of both the majoritarian and proportional systems. At the same time, the goal of combining the advantages and advantages of each of the ethical systems is achieved during the elections of various state bodies.

A mixed electoral system can be of two types:

1) the majority system is mainly used and supplemented by a proportional one. For example, in Mexico, the lower house of parliament consists of 300 deputies, elected by a plurality system in single member constituencies, and 100 deputies, elected by a proportional representation system, which is held in multi-member constituencies. In 1993, Italy switched to a mixed electoral system: 75% of the seats in each of the houses of parliament will be mixed according to the majority system in single-mandate constituencies; 25% - in multi-member constituencies under the proportional system;

2) half of the members of parliament are elected in single-mandate constituencies that cover the entire country, and the other half - according to national party lists (Germany, Georgia, etc.).

In any type of mixed electoral system, a voter arriving at a polling station receives two ballots. In one, he chooses a candidate according to the majority system, but in the second - a party (bloc, association) - according to the proportional system. This system enables the voter to choose both a particular politician and the party he likes. In mixed systems, as a rule, a barrier barrier is used.

The 2005 Federal Law on the Elections of Deputies to the State Duma changed the mixed electoral system that had existed in Russia since 1993, canceling the elections of 225 State Duma deputies by the majority system. In the 2007 elections, all deputies will be elected according to a proportional system, i.e. in the federal electoral district in proportion to the number of votes cast for the federal lists of candidates for deputies.

As for the methodology for the proportional distribution of deputy mandates, it complies with the rules of the applied system.

The Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation calculates the sum of the votes cast for the federal lists of candidates admitted to the distribution of deputy mandates (each of the lists of candidates must receive 7 and more than percent of votes of voters who took part in voting, provided that that there were at least two such lists and that in aggregate more than 60% of the votes were cast for these lists).

This total of votes is divided by 450 - the number of deputy mandates distributed across the federal electoral district. The result obtained is the first electoral quotient (the so-called electoral quota), which is used in the process of distributing deputy mandates between federal lists of candidates.

The number of voters' votes received by each federal list of candidates admitted to the distribution of deputy mandates is divided by the first electoral quotient. The whole part of the number obtained as a result of this division is the number of deputy mandates that the corresponding federal list of candidates receives as a result of the initial distribution of deputy mandates.

If, after this procedure, unallocated deputy mandates remain, their secondary distribution is carried out. Unallocated mandates are transferred one at a time to those federal lists of candidates that have the largest fractional part of the number obtained as a result of the division, the procedure for which is described above. In case of equality of fractional parts (after the decimal point up to the sixth decimal place inclusive), priority is given to the federal list of candidates for which the greater number of votes were cast.

After the distribution of deputy mandates between federal lists, they are distributed within each list between regional groups of candidates and the federal part of the federal list of candidates. The detailed methodology for such distribution is established by Art. 83 of the Federal Law on the Election of Deputies of the State Duma of 2005. If, as a result of the implementation of the provisions of this article, the State Duma remains unauthorized, unallocated deputy mandates are transferred to federal lists of candidates who are not admitted to the distribution of deputy mandates, who have received a number of votes that exceeds the first electoral private. These legislative norms exclude the possibility of the emergence of a one-party parliament.

In the event of early termination of the powers of the State Duma or if the elected deputy has not resigned powers incompatible with his status, the Central Election Commission transfers his deputy mandate to a registered candidate from the same federal list of candidates. The deputy mandate is transferred to the first registered candidate in the order of priority from among the candidates who did not receive deputy mandates and were included in the same regional group of candidates as the candidate whose deputy mandate was vacant. If there are no registered candidates left on the federal list of candidates, the deputy mandate remains vacant until the next elections of the State Duma deputies.

On the one hand, they provide an opportunity for people with political ambitions and organizational abilities to be elected to government bodies, and on the other hand, they involve the general public in political life and allow ordinary citizens to influence political decisions.

Electoral system in a broad sense, they call the system of social relations associated with the formation of elected government bodies.

The electoral system includes two main elements:

theoretical (suffrage);
practical (electoral process).

Suffrage- this is the right of citizens to directly participate in the formation of elective institutions of power, i.e. elect and be elected. The right to vote is also understood as the legal norms governing the procedure for granting citizens the right to participate in elections and the method of forming government bodies. The foundations of modern Russian electoral law are enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Electoral process Is a set of measures for the preparation and conduct of elections. It includes, on the one hand, the election campaigns of candidates, and on the other, the work of election commissions to form an elected government body.

The following components are distinguished in the electoral process:

appointment of elections;
organization of constituencies, districts, precincts;
formation of election commissions;
voter registration;
nomination and registration of candidates;
preparation of ballots and absentee ballots;
pre-election struggle; o holding a vote;
counting of votes and determination of voting results.

Principles for Democratic Elections

In order to ensure the fairness and efficiency of the electoral system, the electoral process must be democratic.

Democratic principles for the organization and conduct of elections are as follows:

universality - all adult citizens have the right to participate in elections, regardless of their gender, race, nationality, religion, property status, etc .;
equality of citizens' votes: each voter has one vote;
direct and secret ballot;
availability of alternative candidates, competitiveness of elections;
publicity of the elections;
truthful informing of voters;
lack of administrative, economic and political pressure;
equality of opportunity for political parties and candidates;
voluntary participation in elections;
legal response to any cases of violation of electoral legislation;
periodicity and regularity of elections.

Features of the electoral system of the Russian Federation

In the Russian Federation, the existing electoral system regulates the procedure for holding elections for the head of state, deputies of the State Duma and regional authorities.

Candidate for the post President of the Russian Federation can be a citizen of Russia at least 35 years old, residing in the territory of Russia for at least 10 years. A candidate cannot be a person who has a foreign citizenship or has a permanent residence permit, an unexpunged and outstanding conviction. One and the same person cannot hold the office of President of the Russian Federation for more than two consecutive terms. The President is elected for a six-year term on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. Presidential elections are held on a majority basis. The President is considered elected if in the first round of voting a majority of voters who took part in voting voted for one of the candidates. If this does not happen, a second round is appointed, in which the two candidates with the largest number of votes in the first round participate, and the winner is the one who received more votes than the other registered candidate.

A deputy of the State Duma may A citizen of the Russian Federation who has reached the age of 21 and has the right to participate in elections was elected. 450 deputies are elected to the State Duma by party lists on a proportional basis. In order to overcome the electoral threshold and receive mandates, a party must gain a certain percentage of the vote. The term of office of the State Duma is five years.

Russian citizens also participate in elections to state bodies and to elective positions in constituent entities of the Russian Federation. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. the system of bodies of regional state power is established by the constituent entities of the Federation independently in accordance with the foundations of the constitutional order and current legislation. The law establishes special days for voting in elections to bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Federation and bodies of local self-government - the second Sunday in March and the second Sunday in October.

Types of electoral systems

The electoral system in the narrow sense means the procedure for determining the voting results, which depends mainly on the principle counting votes.

On this basis, there are three main types of electoral systems:

majority;
proportional;
mixed.

Majority electoral system

In conditions majority system (from French majorite - majority), the candidate who receives the majority of votes wins. Majority can be absolute (if the candidate received more than half of the votes) and relative (if one candidate received more votes than the other). The disadvantage of the majoritarian system is that it can reduce the chances of small parties gaining representation in government.

The majority system means that in order to be elected, a candidate or a party must receive a majority of the votes of the constituency or the entire country, while those who collect the minority of votes do not receive mandates. Majority electoral systems are divided into absolute majority systems, which are more often used in presidential elections and in which the winner must receive more than half of the votes (at least 50% of the vote plus one vote), and plurality systems (UK, Canada, USA, France, Japan, etc.) etc.), when it is necessary to get ahead of other contenders to win. When applying the principle of absolute majority, if no candidate received more than half of the votes, a second round of elections is held, in which two candidates who received the largest number of votes are presented (sometimes all candidates who receive more than the established minimum in the first round are admitted to the second round) ).

Proportional electoral system

Proportional the electoral system involves the voting of voters on party lists. After the elections, each of the parties receives a number of seats proportional to the gained percentage of votes (for example, a party with 25% of the votes cast gets 1/4 of the seats). In parliamentary elections, it is usually established percentage barrier(electoral threshold) that a party needs to overcome in order to get its candidates to parliament; as a result, small parties that do not have broad social support do not receive mandates. The votes for the parties that did not overcome the barrier are distributed among the parties that won the elections. The proportional system is possible only in many mandate constituencies, i.e. those where several deputies are elected and the voter votes for each of them personally.

The essence of the proportional system is the distribution of mandates in proportion to the number of votes received or by electoral coalitions. The main advantage of this system is the representation of parties in elected bodies in accordance with their real popularity among voters, which allows them to more fully express the interests of all groups, to intensify the participation of citizens in elections and in general. In order to overcome the excessive party fragmentation of the parliament, to limit the possibility of penetration of representatives of radical or even extremist forces into it, many countries use barriers, or thresholds that establish the minimum number of votes necessary to obtain deputy mandates. It usually ranges from 2 (Denmark) to 5% (Germany) of all votes cast. Parties that do not collect the required minimum of votes will not receive a single mandate.

Comparative analysis of proportional and electoral systems

Majority an electoral system in which the candidate with the most votes wins contributes to the formation of bipartism or a "bloc" party system, while proportional, in which parties with the support of only 2 - 3% of voters can nominate their candidates to parliament, reinforces the fragmentation and fragmentation of political forces, the preservation of many small parties, including those of an extremist wing.

Bipartism assumes the presence of two large, approximately equal in influence, political parties, which alternately replace each other in power by winning a majority of seats in parliament, elected by direct universal suffrage.

Mixed electoral system

Currently, many countries use mixed systems that combine elements of the majoritarian and proportional electoral systems. For example, in the Federal Republic of Germany, one half of the Bundestag deputies are elected according to the majority system of the relative majority, the second - according to the proportional system. A similar system was used in Russia at the elections to the State Duma in 1993 and 1995.

Mixed the system involves a combination of majority and proportional systems; for example, one part of parliament is elected by the majority system, and the other by proportional; in this case, the voter receives two ballots and casts one vote for the party list, and the second for a specific candidate elected on a majoritarian basis.

In recent decades, some organizations (, green parties, etc.) have been using consensus electoral system... It has a positive orientation, that is, it is focused not on criticizing the enemy, but on finding the most acceptable candidate or electoral platform for all. In practice, this is expressed in the fact that the voter votes not for one, but for all (necessarily more than two) candidates and ranks their list in the order of their own preferences. For the first place five points are given, for the second - four, for the third - three, for the fourth - two, for the fifth - one point. After voting, the received points are summed up, and the winner is determined by their number.

The most important function of the electoral process lies in the fact that such a significant political and legal factor for the government, for any state, as legitimacy, is determined primarily by the results of the expression of the will of citizens during voting during the election period. It is the elections that are an accurate indicator of the ideological and political sympathies and antipathies of the electorate.

Thus, it seems justified to define the essence of the electoral system, firstly, as a set of rules, techniques and methods of political struggle for power regulated by law, which regulate the functioning of the mechanism for the formation of government bodies and local self-government. Secondly, the electoral system is a political mechanism through which political parties, movements and other subjects of the political process carry out in practice their function of struggle for the conquest or retention of state power. Thirdly, the electoral process and mechanism is a way to ensure the degree of legitimacy of power necessary for the implementation of the state's powers.

In the modern world, there are two types of electoral systems - majoritarian and proportional... Each of these systems has its own variations.

It takes its name from the French word majorite (majority), and the very name of this type of system to a large extent clarifies its essence, the winner and, accordingly, the owner of the corresponding elected post becomes the one of the participants in the pre-election struggle who received the majority of votes. The majoritarian electoral system has three options:

1) the majority system of a relative majority, when the winner is the candidate who managed to get more votes than any of his rivals;
2) the majority system of absolute majority, in which to win it is necessary to collect more than half of the votes cast in the elections (the minimum number in this case is 50% of the votes plus 1 vote);
3) a majority system of a mixed or combined type, in which to win in the first round it is necessary to gain an absolute majority of votes, and if none of the candidates succeeds in achieving this result, then the second round is held, in which not all candidates go, but only those two who took 1st and 11th places in the first round, and then in the second round, to win the elections, it is enough to get a relative majority of votes, that is, to gain more votes than a competitor.

Counting of the votes cast under the majoritarian system is carried out in single-mandate constituencies, from each of which only one candidate can be elected. The number of such single-mandate constituencies under the majority system during parliamentary elections is equal to the constitutional number of parliamentary seats. When the country's president is elected, the whole country becomes such a single-mandate constituency.

The main advantages of the majority system include the following:

1. This is a universal system, since using it, one can elect both individual representatives (president, governor, mayor) and collective bodies of state power or local self-government (parliament of the country, municipality of the city).

2. Due to the fact that under the majoritarian system, specific persons-candidates are nominated and compete with each other. A voter can take into account not only his party affiliation (or lack thereof), political program, adherence to a particular ideological doctrine, but also take into account the personal qualities of the candidate: his professional suitability, reputation, compliance with the moral criteria and convictions of the voter, etc.

3. In elections held under the majoritarian system, representatives of small parties and even non-party independent candidates can actually participate and win along with representatives of large political parties.

4. Elected in single-mandate majoritarian constituencies, representatives receive a greater degree of independence from political parties and party leaders, since they receive their mandates directly from the voters. This makes it possible to more correctly observe the principle of democracy by the people, in accordance with which the source of power should be the voters, and not the party structures. Under the majoritarian system, the elected representative becomes much closer to his constituents, since they know who they are voting for.

Of course, the majority electoral system, like any other human invention, is not ideal. Its merits are not realized automatically, but with “other things being equal” and to a very high degree of dependence on the “environment of application”, which is the political regime. So, for example, under the conditions of a totalitarian political regime, practically none of the advantages of this electoral system can be fully realized, since in this case it only serves as a mechanism for realizing the will of political power, and not of voters.

Among the objective shortcomings of the majority system, which, as it were, are inherent in it initially, the following are usually distinguished:.

At first, under the majoritarian electoral system, the votes of those voters who were cast for the non-winning candidates “disappear” and are not converted into powers of power, despite the fact that in the total amount of votes cast in the elections, these “non-won” votes may constitute a very significant part, and sometimes - not much less than the votes that determined the winner, or even exceeding it.

Secondly, the majoritarian system is rightly considered more expensive, financially costly due to a possible second round of voting, and due to the fact that instead of the election campaigns of several parties, there are several thousand election campaigns of individual candidates.

Thirdly, under the majoritarian system, due to the possible victory of independent candidates, as well as candidates of small parties, there is a much greater likelihood of the formation of too dispersed, poorly structured and therefore poorly managed government bodies, the effectiveness of which is significantly reduced due to this. This disadvantage is especially typical for countries with a poorly structured party system and a large number of parties (the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is a prime example)

Finally, opponents of the majoritarian system argue that it creates favorable opportunities for increasing the role of financial sponsors in defiance of the constitutional rights of voters. Very often, local authorities are accused of using “ administrative resource", I.e. in the support of the administration of certain candidates, parties, etc. Presidential elections in 2004. in Ukraine have confirmed this.

The second type the electoral system is a proportional system. The very name itself is largely capable of clarifying its essence: deputy mandates are distributed in direct proportion to the number of votes cast for one or another political party. The proportional system has a number of significant differences from the majority system described above. Under the proportional system, votes are counted not within a single-member constituency, but across multi-member constituencies..

In a proportional electoral system, the main subjects of the electoral process are not individual candidates, but political parties, whose lists of candidates compete with each other in the struggle for votes. With a proportional voting system, only one round of elections is held, a kind of "barrier of passage" is introduced, which usually amounts to 4-5 percent of the number of votes cast nationwide.

Smaller and less well-organized parties are often unable to overcome this barrier and therefore cannot count on deputy seats. At the same time, the votes cast for these parties (and, accordingly, the deputy mandates behind these votes) are redistributed in favor of those parties that have managed to score a passing score and can count on deputy mandates. The lion's share of these "redistributed" votes goes to those parties that managed to get the most votes.

That is why the so-called "mass" (they are also centralized and ideological parties) are interested in the proportional voting system, which focus not on the attractiveness of outstanding personalities, but on the massive support of their members and supporters, on the willingness of their electorate to vote not according to personified, but for ideological and political reasons.

Election on party lists according to the proportional system usually requires significantly lower costs, but “on the other hand,” in this case, between the people's representative (deputy) and the people (voters) there appears a figure of a kind of political mediator in the person of the party leader, with whose opinion the “listed” deputy is forced to be considered to a much greater extent than a deputy from a majority constituency.

Mixed or Majority Proportional Electoral System

There is also mixed or majority proportional system, which, however, does not represent a separate, independent type of electoral system, but is characterized by mechanical unification, the parallel action of two main systems. The functioning of such an electoral system is caused, as a rule, by a political compromise between parties that are mainly interested in the majority system and those parties that prefer a purely proportional system. In this case, the constitutionally designated number of parliamentary mandates is divided in a certain proportion (most often 11) between the majority and proportional systems.

With this ratio, the number of single-member constituencies in the country is equal to half of the seats in parliament, and the remaining half of the mandates are played out according to the proportional system in one multi-member constituency. In this case, each voter votes both for a specific candidate in his single-mandate constituency, and for the list of one of the political parties in the national constituency. This system is currently in place for elections, the State Duma of Russia and some parliaments of other countries. (Until 2005, a mixed system was used for elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine).