Article 70. Procedure for Determination of the Results of Elections, Referendums
1. On the basis of the first original copies of the protocol of vote returns received from lower commissions, a commission duly authorized by law shall establish the results of the election, referendum. Voting members of such commission shall establish the results of the election, referendum in person. The results of the election, referendum shall be indicated in a protocol and a summary table that shall be compiled in two original copies each and signed by all present voting members of this commission.
2. An election shall be declared by the relevant election commission not to have taken place if:
a) less than 20 percent of voters included in the voters lists took part in the election. It may be established by law that the said minimal percentage for elections of federal bodies of state power, bodies of state power of subjects of the Russian Federation be increased. The law of a subject of the Russian Federation may provide that there shall be no minimal percentage of voters required for declaring an election of deputies of representative bodies of local self-government to have taken place;
b) in a single-seat or single electoral district the number of votes cast for a candidate who gained the largest number of votes as compared with the other candidate (candidates) is less than the number of votes cast against all candidates;
c) less than two lists of candidates, in voting for lists of candidates, received in accordance with law the right to be included in the distribution of deputy seats;
d) in the voting for lists of candidates the lists of candidates who received in accordance with the law the right to be included in the distribution of deputy seats, gained together 50 percent or less than 50 percent of the votes cast;
e) all candidates were removed as a result of a repeat voting;
f) in the case referred to in the third paragraph, Clause 1, Article 71 of this Federal Law.
No any additional grounds for declaring an election not to have taken place shall be established by law.
3. Sub-clause a), Clause 2 of this article shall not apply when a repeat voting is conducted with regard to candidates who received the largest number of votes.
4. A law, save the case stated in Clause 5 of this article and Clause 1, Article 71 of this Federal Law, shall not contain any provisions that allow a possibility to declare a candidate who gained the largest number of votes as not elected if the election was declared to have taken place.
5. At elections in multi-seat electoral districts in which a voter has the number of votes that is not less than the number of seats in the electoral district, a candidate shall be considered not elected if the number of votes cast for the candidate is less than the number of votes cast against all candidates. At elections in multi-seat electoral districts in which a voter has less votes than the number of seats in the electoral district, a candidate shall be considered not elected if the number of votes cast for the candidate is less than the calculated for this electoral district number of votes cast against all candidates. The said calculated number of votes cast against all candidates shall be determined as the quotient of dividing the aggregate number of votes cast against all candidates by the quotient of dividing the number of seats in the multi-seat electoral district by the number of votes that a voter of this electoral district has. If after tabulating the vote returns in multi-seat electoral districts not all seats are taken, a repeat election shall be called with regard to the vacant seats.
6. The relevant election commission shall cancel its decision on declaring elected a candidate who received the number of votes required to be elected or who is declared elected as a result of voting for a list of candidates, if he fails to provide to the relevant election commission, within seven days from the day of the official publication of the general results of the election, a copy of the order (instruction) relieving him from the duties incompatible with the status of a deputy, elective official, or copies of documents certifying that, within three days, he filed an application to be relived from such duties.
7. It may be provided for by law that, if a candidate without compelling circumstances did not resign any powers that are incompatible with the status of a deputy, elective official, as a result of which a repeat election was called, this deputy must reimburse, in full or in part, the relevant election commission for its costs related to the conduct of the repeat election. Such law shall also contain a list of circumstances under which such reimbursement shall not be made.
8. A referendum shall be declared not to have taken place by the relevant referendum commission if not more than half of the referendum participants included in referendum participant lists took part in it on the territory where the referendum is conducted. The relevant referendum commission shall declare that a decision has not been adopted at a referendum if not more than half of the referendum participants who took part in voting at the referendum voted for this decision. No other grounds for declaring a referendum not to have taken place shall be established by the law of a subject of the Russian Federation.
9. The relevant commission shall declare vote returns, results of an election, a referendum of a subject of the Russian Federation, a local referendum null and void:
a) if violations committed when voting was conducted or vote returns were determined do not make it possible to determine reliably the results of the expression of the will of the voters, referendum participants;
b) if they were declared null and void in some electoral precincts, referendum precincts where at the time of the end of voting the lists of voters, referendum participants aggregately contain not less than one fourth of the total number of voters, referendum participants included in the lists of voters, referendum participants at the time of the end of voting in the relevant electoral district, referendum district;
c) in accordance with a court decision.
10. Documentation of commissions of all levels, including signature sheets with signatures of voters, referendum participants, ballots, absentee certificates and lists of voters, referendum participants shall be stored for the periods established by law. Such periods established for safekeeping of signature sheets with signatures of voters, referendum participants, ballots, absentee certificates and lists of voters, referendum participants shall not be shorter than one year from the day of the publication of vote returns and the results of an election, referendum. Established periods for safekeeping of protocols of vote returns and summary tables of vote returns of election commissions shall not be shorter than one year from the day on which the next election of the same level is announced, and those of referendum commissions, shorter than five years from the day of publication of the vote returns. If any appeals against a commission’s decision on vote returns, the results of an election, a referendum are considered by a court, or any criminal action is initiated in relation to violation of electoral rights, the right to participate in a referendum enjoyed by citizens of the Russian Federation, the periods for safekeeping of the relevant electoral documentation, referendum documentation shall be extended until the court decision becomes effective (the case is dropped in accordance with the law). The responsibility for safekeeping of electoral documentation, referendum documentation shall be vested on the chairman (deputy chairman) and the secretary of the relevant commission until the documents are submitted to the higher commission or transferred to an archive.
11. The procedure for safekeeping, transfer to an archive, and destruction of electoral documentation, referendum documentation shall be approved by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, the election commissions of subjects of the Russian Federation with the concurrence of the relevant state archive authorities.
