Issue #1222 (88), Friday, November 17, 2006

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Duma Adopts Election Turnout Bill

The St. Petersburg Times

MOSCOW — A bill eliminating voter turnout thresholds in elections cleared a crucial hurdle Wednesday, making it almost certain the measure will become law.United Russia deputies rammed the bill through a second reading in the State Duma, with 336 lawmakers voting for it and 92 against. The Communists opposed the bill.

The bill, which passed a first reading earlier this year, is expected to make it easier for United Russia to hold onto power. Without any minimum voter requirement, local election authorities working for United Russia would be able to strip opposition candidates from ballots without fearing a boycott.

For now, boycotts are one of the few tools protesters have at their disposal to make their dissatisfaction with elections known. But striking the threshold would sap the boycott of any of its power to invalidate elections and cast a spotlight on public discontent. "Anything that threatens United Russia's getting a majority vote at the polls is being stricken from the law," Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said.

Sergei Mironov, the Federation Council speaker, on Tuesday called the elimination of the turnout threshold "premature." Mironov is the leader of the other pro-Kremlin party, A Just Russia, which has been portrayed as the center-left counterbalance to the center-right United Russia.

Other provisions of the same bill now coasting through the Duma would eliminate early voting, ban criticism between rival parties and candidates during election times, and allow election officials to kick candidates off ballots if they were convicted of extremist activity or detained for a minor offense during the campaign.

If the bill clears a third reading in the Duma, passes the Federation Council and is signed into law by President Vladimir Putin by year's end, it would take effect before regional and Duma elections in 2007, which are scheduled for March and October, respectively.