Home > 1.1.3.3 Individual submission of candidature > RUSSIAN FEDERATION - Federal Law on Elections of Deputies to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
 
 
 
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Article 49
 

1. The district election commission shall verify compliance with the requirements of this Federal Law during self-nomination of a candidates and the submission by the candidates, nominated by political parties in single-mandate electoral districts and self-nominated, of documents to the district election commission, as well as the accuracy of information about the candidates. In case of submission of signature sheets with voter signatures the district election commission shall verify compliance with the requirements of this Federal Law to the collection of voter signatures the format of signature sheets, the accuracy of information about the voters and the voters' signatures contained in the signature sheets.


2. In order to verify compliance with the requirements specified in part 1 of this Article, the district election commission may decide to create working groups. Verification may take place with the involvement of members of lower election commissions, experts from the bodies of the interior, justice institutions, military recruitment offices, agencies of registration of citizens of the Russian Federation at the place of stay and place of residence within the Russian Federation, other state bodies. Expert reports may serve as the basis for declaring false and (or) invalid voter signatures contained in signature sheets. Expert opinions shall be made in writing in the statements of verification of signature sheets or other documents. During their work period the experts involved shall be exempt from their main work, while preserving their workplace (position), established salaries and other payments in their workplace.


3. The district election commission shall request the relevant authorities to verify the authenticity of information provided by candidates in accordance with part 5 of Article 41, paragraph 1 of part 5 of Article 42 or part 1 of Article 43 of this Federal Law, except for the information that in accordance with part 4 of Article 48 of this Federal Law shall be verified by the Central Election Commission, as well as the verification of compliance with the requirements of part 13 of Article 4 of this Federal Law. The relevant authorities shall, within 10 days, and in respect of the information submitted in accordance with paragraph 2 of part 5 of Article 41 and paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Article 43 of this Federal Law, verify compliance with the requirements of part 13 of Article 4 of this Federal Law, - within 20 days, report on their findings. If the request was received less than 10 days or less before the voting day, the relevant authorities shall communicate the results of verification within the time established by the district election commission. Verifying compliance with the requirements of part 13 of Article 4 of this Federal Law shall be carried out on the grounds established by the Federal Law "On the prohibition for certain categories of persons to open and operate accounts (deposits), store cash and valuables in foreign banks located outside the territory of the Russian Federation, own and (or) use foreign financial instruments". The procedure for verifying the information specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of part 5 of Article 41, paragraphs 3 and 4 of part 1 of Article 43 of this Federal Law shall be established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation.


4. To establish the authenticity of the data contained in signature lists, the district election commission shall be entitled to use the GAS Vybory, including the register of voters, referendum participants.


5. Upon discovering incomplete information about a candidate, the absence of any documents referred to in parts 4 - 6 and 8 of Article 41, parts 1 and 4 of Article 43, part 1 and paragraphs 2 and 4 of part 2 of Article 47 of this Federal Law, or non-compliance with the requirements of this Federal law to the registration documents submitted to the district election commission in accordance with parts 4 - 6 and 8 of Article 41, parts 1 and 4 of Article 43, part 1 and paragraphs 2 and 4 of part 2 of Article 47 of this Federal law, the district election commission shall, no later than three days prior to the day of its session where it is due to decide on the issue of candidate registration, notify the candidate. No later than one day prior to the date of this session the candidate has the right to make amendments and additions to the documents containing information about him, as well as to other documents submitted to the district election commission in accordance with parts 4 - 6 and 8 of Article 41, parts 1 and 4 of Article 43, part 1 and paragraphs 2 and 4 of part 2 of Article 47 of this Federal Law, in order to bring these documents into compliance with the requirements of the present Federal Law, including to their form. The candidate shall be entitled to replace the submitted document only if its form violates the law. If verifications carried out by the district election commission reveal an absence of a copy of any document provided by part 8 of Article 41 and part 4 of Article 43 of this Federal Law, the candidate shall be entitled to submit it no later than one day prior to the session on the question of his registration.


6. The district election commission shall communicate to the voters information on the candidates nominated in single-mandate electoral districts, in the amount prescribed by the Central Election Commission.


7. Verification of voter signatures shall check at least 20 percent of the number of voter signatures required for the registration of a candidate and the corresponding information on the voters who put their signatures on the signature sheets. For the initial verification, the same number of voter signatures collected in support of nomination (selfnomination) of each candidate shall be taken. This number shall be determined by decision of the district election commission. Signature sheets for sample verification shall be selected randomly (by lot). Sampling shall be carried out in the district election commission immediately after issuing candidate the document confirming the receipt of signature sheets. The procedure for sampling shall be determined by the Central Election Commission.


8. The conduct of sampling in the district election commission and the verification of signature sheets may be attended by any candidate who submitted the number of voter signatures required for the registration, his authorized representatives or proxies, as well as other persons sent by such candidate. Candidates who submitted the number of voter signatures required for the registration shall be notified about the verification of signature sheets.


9. Verification shall cover all voter signatures and corresponding information about the voters contained in the signature sheets sampled for verification. If these signature sheets contain a larger number of voter signatures than the number set for verification, in the last signature sheet signatures shall be checked starting with the first, until the required number of signatures to be checked.


10. Based on the verification, a voter signature may be declared authentic, unauthentic and (or) invalid.


11. Verification and count shall not include voter signatures contained in signature sheets but excluded (crossed out) by the persons certifying the signature sheets, if this is specifically stated by them in the signature sheet, or in the protocol on the results of signature collection prior to the submission of signature sheets to the district election commission.


12. Abbreviations of words and dates in the voter data contained in signature sheets may not serve as a basis for declaring signatures invalid, if such abbreviations do not prevent unambiguous interpretation of this information.


13. If, during the verification of signatures, several signatures of the same voter are found in support of the nomination (self–nomination) of the same candidate, only one signature shall be deemed authentic, and the other signatures shall be deemed invalid.


14. A signature shall be deemed unauthentic if it is made on behalf of one person by another person. Such a signature shall be recognized unauthentic on the basis of conclusion of an expert involved in the verification in accordance with part 2 of this Article.


15. The following shall be deemed invalid:


1) voter signatures collected before the date of payment for the production of voter signature sheets;


2) signatures of persons who do not have the right of active suffrage in the respective single-mandate electoral district;


3) signatures of voters who indicated false information in the signature sheet. In this case, the signature shall be invalidated only if there is an official certificate from the body in charge of registration of citizens of the Russian Federation at the place of stay and place of residence within the Russian Federation, or based on the conclusion of an expert involved in the verification in accordance with part 2 of this Article;


4) signatures of voters without providing any information required in accordance with this Federal Law and (or) without specifying the date of making the signature on the signature sheet;


5) signatures of voters, whose information is included in the signature sheet not by hand or with a pencil; 


6) voter signatures with corrections in the dates of their entry in the signature sheet, if the corrections are not expressly certified by voters, and voter signatures the dates of entry of which were not entered by the voters themselves - based on the opinion of an expert involved in verification in accordance with part 2 of this Article;


7) signatures of voters with corrections in the respective voter data, if these corrections are not expressly certified by voters or the persons who collected voter signatures;


8) all voter signatures on the signature sheet, if the signature sheet is not certified by the own signature of the person who collected the signatures, and (or) the candidate, or if at least one of these signatures is unauthentic, or if the signature sheet is certified by a person who collected voter signatures and who has not reached the age of 18 at the time of collecting signatures, and (or) if this person has been declared incapable by court, or if at least one date of verification of the signature sheet is not entered or not entered by hand, or if the information about the person collecting voter signatures and (or) the date when the this person or the candidate signed the sheet was corrected, and these corrections have not been certified respectively by the person who collected voter signatures or the candidate, or if the information on the person collecting voter signatures or the candidate in the signature sheet is incomplete or false, or if the information on the person collecting voter signatures is not entered into the signature sheet with his own hand or with a pencil;


9) all voter signatures on the signature sheet the form of which does not meet the requirements established by Annexes 3 and 4 of this Federal Law, and (or) which do not include the information referred to in parts 3, 4 and 5 of Article 45 of this Federal Law, and (or) which is made without compliance with the requirements provided for by part 2 of Article 45 of this Federal Law;


10) voter signatures collected in violation of the requirements of parts 9 and 10 of Article 45 of this Federal Law;


11) voter signatures, if their data are not included in the signature sheet by the voters who signed, and not by the person who collected the signatures of voters included in that signature sheet, - based on the opinion of an expert involved in the verification in accordance with part 2 of this Article;


12) all voter signatures on the signature sheet, which is authenticated by the signature collector who was not on the list drawn up in accordance with part 8 of Article 45 of this Federal Law;


13) signatures of voters entered in the signature sheet after the certification of the signature sheet the person who collected the signatures, and (or) a candidate;


14) all voter signatures on the signature sheet, if the certifying record of the person who collected voter signatures was put after the certifying signature of the candidate.


16. Upon detection in the signature sheet a filled line (lines) that do not comply with the requirements of the present Federal law, only the signature in this line (lines) shall not be counted, except for the cases provided for in paragraphs 8, 9, 12 and 14 of part 15 of this Article.


17. Corrections and erasures, expressly certified by the voter or the person certifying the signature sheet, made during the preparation of the signature sheet, may not serve as a basis for declaring a signature invalid, unless it is found to be unauthentic or invalid in accordance with paragraphs 8, 9, 12 and 14 of part 15 of this Article.


18. If the number of unauthentic and (or) invalid voter signatures identified in the sample verification equals or exceeds 5 percent of the established number of signatures to be checked, another 15 percent of the number of signatures required for the candidate registration shall be carried out, in the order established by this Article.


19. If the total number of unauthentic and (or) invalid voter signatures identified in the sample verification equals or exceeds 5 percent of the total number of signatures to be checked in accordance with parts 7 and 18 of this Article, further verification of signature sheets shall be stopped and the candidate shall not be registered.


20. A candidate shall not be registered if the number of voter signatures submitted minus the signatures found unauthentic and (or) invalid is insufficient for registration.


21. After completion of the verification of signature sheets of each candidate, whose nomination was supported by the collected signatures, the final protocol shall be drawn up, which shall be signed by the authorized voting member of the district election commission. On the basis of this protocol, the district election commission shall make a decision to register the candidate or refuse registration. The protocol shall specify the number of announced, submitted and checked voter signatures, and the number of signatures deemed unauthentic and (or) invalid, and the grounds (reasons) they were recognized as such. The protocol shall be annexed to the decision of the district election commission to register a candidate or refuse his registration. Amendments to the protocol after the respective decision shall not be permitted. A copy of the protocol shall be given to the candidate no later than two days before the session of the district election commission on the issue of registration of the candidate. If the number of valid signatures of voters is insufficient for the registration of the candidate or if the number of unauthentic and (or) invalid signatures equals or exceeds 5 percent of the total number of signatures to be checked, the candidate shall be entitled to receive in the district election commission, together with a copy of the final protocol, certified copies of the statements of verification of signature sheets, which set out the grounds (reasons) for declaring the signatures unauthentic and (or) invalid, indicating the folder number, the signature sheet and line in the signature sheet that contain each such signature, and to receive copies of official documents on the basis of which the respective signatures were deemed unauthentic and (or) void.


22. Re-verification of signature sheets after the adoption by the district election commission of the decision to register or refuse to register a candidate, may be carried out only by a supreme court of the republic, district, regional court, court of the autonomous region, autonomous district, or by the Central Election Commission in accordance with part 9 of Article 99 of the present Federal Law, and only within the signatures that were verified.