Novelties of Russian electoral legislation in the era of digitalization: problems and prospects of application

Introduction. Practically no electoral cycle in post-Soviet and modern Russia is complete without amendments to existing regulatory legal acts, or without the repeal of invalid and new laws and by-laws regulating the institution of electoral law, various stages of the electoral process, and elections of public authorities from municipal to federal levels. This trend can be explained both by the fact that the types of electoral legal relations are changing, during which the will of voters and the formation of various institutions of direct democracy are taking place, gaps in electoral legislation are being eliminated, and by the lack of stability of electoral practices.

Purpose. Research and evaluation of innovations in the domestic electoral legislation of 2020-2025, their problematic aspects and prospects for further reform.

Methods. The research is based on various methods of scientific knowledge, such as formal-dogmatic, comparative legal and logical methods, which are used to systematize and analyze the novelties of Russian electoral legislation, their interrelation and interdependence with the digitalization of the electoral process in modern Russia.

Results. An assessment of the novelties of the domestic electoral legislation for the period 2020 – 2025 is presented, their testing in federal and regional elections is analyzed, the advantages and problematic aspects of their implementation are identified, and proposals aimed at their further improvement are made.

Conclusions. In the course of the conducted research, it was found that the reform and improvement of the domestic electoral system and electoral legislation, which began in the 1990s, continues to the present day, and contributes to a constructive dialogue between the public administration and society. In order to further improve the domestic electoral system, it is necessary to detail in the norms of federal legislation the procedure for remote (outside the walls of polling stations) voting and determining the results of the expression of will, the procedure for identifying and authenticating mobile voters, guarantees of compliance with the principles of equality and secrecy of expression. Proposals are being made aimed at regulating at the federal level the process of public control and monitoring of the electronic remote voting process with the possibility of attracting and training observers from officially registered socio-political, human rights and other organizations at the expense of budgetary funds, which will increase the level of voter confidence in innovative practices and technologies being introduced into electoral practice.

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