Home > 1.3.2.2.4 Combating electoral fraud > RUSSIAN FEDERATION - Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right of Citizens to Participate in a Referendum
 
 
 
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Article 79
 
Article 79. Responsibility for the Violation of Russian Federation Laws on Elections, Referendums
1. Persons who falsify vote returns shall bear criminal responsibility in accordance with the federal laws.
In this Federal Law the falsification of vote returns shall be construed as follows:
adding unregistered ballots to the ballots used in voting;
knowingly incorrect preparation of lists of voters, referendum participants, entering persons who are not entitled to an active electoral right, right to participate in a referendum, or fictitious persons into such lists;
substitution of valid ballots;
unlawful destruction of official ballots;
knowingly incorrect counting of votes cast by voters, referendum participants;
signing, by commission members, of a protocol of vote returns before the votes have been counted or the vote returns have been determined, knowingly incorrect (deviant from the actual vote returns) preparation of a protocol of vote returns ;
introduction of changes to a protocol of vote returns after its completion (save the case referred to in Clause 10, Article 77 of this Federal Law).
2. Persons who by violence, deception, threat, forgery or otherwise prevent a citizen of the Russian Federation from free exercise of his right to elect and be elected, to participate in a referendum,
or violating the procedure established by this Federal Law for provision of information about voters, referendum participants or lists of voters, referendum participants,
or taking advantage of their office or official position in the period of an election campaign, a referendum campaign,
or violating the rules of funding an election campaign, a referendum campaign, including persons who remit funds to commissions, candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs, referendum initiative groups, other referendum participant groups in an untimely manner,
or officials of bodies of state power who failed to verify, at the request of commissions, information about violations of this Federal Law, another law, or failed to take measures aimed at restraining such violations,
or officials conducting an election campaign, referendum campaign in violation of the rules established by this Federal Law,
or persons rendering financial (material) support to candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs, to the activities of a referendum initiative group, another referendum participant group from sources other than their electoral funds, referendum funds;
or compelling citizens to put their signatures in support of a candidate, an electoral association, electoral bloc, a referendum initiative, or obstructing them in their doing so, as well as persons involved in forging such signatures;
or producing illegal pressruns of ballots,
or unlawfully interfering with the operation of the state automated information system;
or bribing voters, referendum participants, i.e. performing actions prohibited by Clause 2, Article 56 of this Federal Law;
or denying a leave for participation in an election, a referendum provided for by law,
or officials who organize signature collection and/or an election campaign, a referendum campaign, other activities conducive to nomination and/or election of candidates, advancement and/or support of a referendum initiative, obtaining this or that answer to the question of a referendum by their subordinate state or municipal employees in their official hours or when they travel on missions,
or officials who failed to create conditions for conducting mass rallies, provided that such duty is assigned to them by law,
or persons who obstruct the operation of commission or activities of commission members that are related to the exercise of their responsibilities, or illegally interfering in such operation or activities, including persons compelling others to refuse to be appointed member of a commission,
or compelling voters, referendum participants to vote against their own choice,
or voters, referendum participants who knowingly stated untrue reason for receiving a ballot in their applications for early voting,
or persons who violated the right of citizens to examine the list of voters, referendum participants, as well as persons who failed to consider, within the legal period, statements about an inaccuracy in a list of voters, referendum participants,
or who concealed a remaining part of a pressrun of produced ballots,
or obstructing the monitoring and supervision exercised by persons referred to in Clause 3, Article 30 of this Federal Law,
or refusing to provide, in the procedure established by this Federal Law, either voting members or non-voting members of a commission with copies of the commission’s documents directly related to the election, referendum,
or violating the secrecy of voting,
or who issued ballots to citizens in order to provide to them an opportunity to vote for other persons or cast more than one vote in the same voting,
or who gave (issued) pre-marked ballots to citizens,
or interfering with voting in electoral precincts, referendum precincts,
or violating the procedure of early voting,
or violating the procedure of voting outside the polling station,
or compelling commission members to falsify vote returns,
or preventing non-voting members of a commission from being among voting members of the commission near the places where ballots are being sorted out and votes cast by voters, referendum participants are being counted,
or preventing either voting members or non-voting members of the commission from exercising their right to make sure on the basis of the lists of voters, referendum participants that the number of persons who participated in voting is counted correctly and the ballots were correctly sorted out according to candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs, options for answering the question of the referendum,
or violating the procedure of counting votes cast by voters, referendum participants established by this Federal Law, including the ballot sorting out procedure, or the procedure for determining the vote returns,
or who committed falsification of electoral documents, referendum documents, who knowingly compiled and issued false documents,
or not issuing a copy of the protocol of vote returns to persons specified in Clause 3, Article 30 of this Federal Law,
or refusing to hold the final meeting of a commission on the vote returns at an election, a referendum,
or who failed to provide (provided incompletely) or failed to publish information about vote returns in defiance of the duties assigned to them,
or failing to provide or publish reports on expenditure of funds for the preparation and conduct of an election, a referendum, and reports on expenditure of budgetary funds for an election, a referendum,
or who provided incomplete or inaccurate financial reports of candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs, a referendum initiative group,
or knowingly disseminating false information about candidates or committing other actions defaming the honor and dignity of candidates,
or violating the rules of election campaigning, referendum campaigning, including persons conducting campaigning on the day preceding voting day, and on voting day, and persons conducting campaigning in spite of being prohibited from doing so by law,
or violating the rules of publication (making public) of the results of public opinion polls related to an election, a referendum,
or violating the rules of production and displaying of propaganda materials,
or mass media organizations participating in election campaigning, referendum campaigning, who failed to publish information about the size and the other terms and conditions of payment for their air time, space in print media,
or not complying with the requirements to the conduct of election campaigning, referendum campaigning:
in terms of the payment size and procedure,
in terms of the amount and timing of the provided air time or the amount and location of the space in print media,
or giving preference in information bulletins containing reports of election campaigning events, events related to a referendum to a certain candidate, electoral association, electoral bloc, the referendum initiative group, another referendum participant group,
or accepting illegal payment for transmission or publication of an information block, -
shall bear criminal, administrative or other responsibility in accordance with the federal laws.
3. The failure to perform or improper performance of decisions adopted at a referendum, shall entail responsibility in accordance with the federal laws.