Home > 1.3.2 Freedom of voters to express their wishes > RUSSIAN FEDERATION - Federal Law on Presidential Elections in the Russian Federation
 
 
 
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Article 71
 

1. A precinct election commission shall make arrangements to enable voting for the voters included or entitled to be included in the voters list of the electoral precinct but are unable to come to the polling station on their own for valid reasons (poor health, physical disability, etc.). a precinct election commission shall make arrangements to enable voting for the voters included in the voters list of the voting precinct and kept in custody in institutions as suspected of or charged with commission of a crime.
(as amended by Federal Law No. 64-FZ of April 26, 2007)


2. Save as provided by Article 70 of this Federal Law, voting outside the polling station shall be carried out only on voting day on the basis of a written application or an oral request of a voter (which may be filed through other persons) for a possibility to vote outside the polling station. The application (request) may be submitted by a voter at any time after formation of a precinct election commission. A precinct election commission shall record all received applications (requests) in a special register which shall be kept together with the voters list after the completion of voting.


3. The entry on an oral request of a voter shall be made in the register mentioned in clause 2 of this Article and shall indicate the time when the request was received; surname, first name and patronymic name of the voter stated his desire to vote outside the polling station; the voter's place of residence. The entry shall be signed by the member of a precinct election commission who received the request (telephone call, message, etc.). If the request was made through another person, surname, first name and patronymic name and the place of residence of such person shall be indicated in the register. Upon arrival of members of a precinct election commission to the voter the request shall be confirmed by a written application.


4. A written application (oral request) of a voter for voting outside the polling station shall state the reason why the voter is unable to come to the polling station. The application shall indicate the voter’s surname, first name and patronymic name and address of the place of residence. A precinct election commission may at its meeting determine that the reason for which a voter is unable to come to the polling station is unjustified and on these grounds refuse to allow the voter to vote outside the polling station. The election commission shall immediately notify the voter of such refusal.
(as amended by Federal Law No. 93-FZ of July 21, 2005)


5. Applications (requests) mentioned in clause 2 of this Article may be submitted to a precinct election commission at any time after the formation of the precinct election commission but not later than six hours before the completion of voting. An application (oral request) received after the specified period shall not be satisfied of which the voter, or a person assisting the voter in filing the application, shall be notified at the moment of acceptance of the application (oral request). (as amended by Federal Law No. 262-FZ of July 25, 2011)


6. the chairman of the precinct election commission shall announce that members of the precinct election commission are going to conduct voting outside the polling station at least 30 minutes before the departure of the members of the precinct election commission and offer to members of the precinct election commission having the right of consultative vote and observers to be present when the voting is conducted.
(as amended by Federal Law No. 262-FZ of July 25, 2011)


7. A precinct election commission shall have the necessary quantity of mobile ballot boxes to conduct voting in accordance with this article. The number of such boxes shall be determined by resolution of a relevant territorial election commission. The maximum number of mobile ballot boxes used on voting day for voting outside the polling station depending on the number of voters registered in the territory of the voting precinct shall be:


(as amended by Federal Laws No. 93-FZ of July 21, 2005, No. 262-FZ of July 25, 2011)
1) up to 501 voters — 1 mobile ballot box;


(as amended by Federal Law No. 262-FZ of July 25, 2011)
2) from 501 to 1001 voters — 2 mobile ballot boxes;


(as amended by Federal Law No. 262-FZ of July 25, 2011)
3) over 1000 voters — 3 mobile ballot boxes.


(as amended by Federal Law No. 262-FZ of July 25, 2011)
7.1. The number of mobile ballot boxes used for voting outside the polling station specified in sub-clauses 1 and 2 of clause 7 of this Article may be increased by resolution of the territorial election commission but no more than by 1 mobile box, provided that at least one of the following conditions is met:


1) the voting precinct includes territories of several settlements and the settlement where the polling station is not accessible by foot from other settlements during voting hours;


2) there is a place of temporary stay of voters without its own voting precinct in the territory of the voting precinct;


3) over 50 people older than 80 years of age and/or disabled persons are registered in the territory of the voting precinct and information on these people has been provided in accordance with clause 16.1 of Article 20 of Federal Law on Basic Guarantees of Voting Rights and the Right to Take Part in a Referendum Belonging to the Russian Federation Citizens;


4) if there is the same voting day for election of the President of the Russian Federation and election of deputies to legislative (representative) agencies of state power of the subject of the Russian Federation and/or local self-government body, a voter may vote using simultaneously more than two ballots.
(clause 7.1 introduced by Federal Law No. 262-FZ of July 25, 2011)


8. Members of a precinct election commission having the right of casting vote who conduct voting outside the polling station shall receive ballots and sign for the receipt of the ballots in the journal of issuance of ballots for voting outside the polling station. The total number of issued ballots may not exceed the number of applications (oral requests) received by the time of departure by more than 5 percent (but not less than two ballots). Voting outside the polling station shall be conducted by not less than two members of a precinct election commission having the right of casting vote who shall bring with them the following: mobile ballot box sealed (closed-up) by the precinct election commission; required number of standard ballots; register mentioned in clause 2 of this Article or a certified extract from the register containing the required data of voters and an entry about the applications (requests) received from voters asking for a possibility to vote outside the polling station; written applications received from voters asking for a possibility to vote outside the polling station; the necessary writing utensils (excepting pencils) for the voter to mark the ballots. Voting outside the polling station may be conducted by one member of a precinct election commission having the right of casting vote provided that at least two persons mentioned in clause 13 of this Article are present at the voting. (as amended by Federal Law No. 262-FZ of July 25, 2011)


9. Voting outside the polling station shall be carried out subject to the provisions of Article 69 of this Federal Law.


10. A voter shall write the series and number of his passport or a substitute document and address of the place of residence on his written application for voting outside the polling station and shall sign for receipt of a ballot. With consent or at request of the voter, a member of the precinct election commission having the right of casting vote may enter the series and number of the passport or a substitute document produced by the voter in the application. Members of a precinct election commission having the right of casting vote shall confirm the issuance of ballots by putting their signatures on the application. A relevant note shall also be made on the application when a new ballot is issued in place of a spoiled one.
(as amended by Federal Law No. 93-FZ of July 21, 2005)


10.1. If a voter, due to disability or health condition, is unable to sign for the receipt of the ballot or complete the ballot, he may use assistance of another voter in the manner set forth by clause 10 of Article 69 of this Federal Law.
(clause 10.1 introduced by Federal Law No. 143 of June 14, 2006)


11. Members of a precinct election commission having the right of casting vote who conduct voting outside the polling station shall issue ballots only to those voters whose applications (requests) have been recorded in the register in accordance with clause 2 of this Article.


12. Members of a precinct election commission having the right of casting vote visiting voters in response to their applications (requests) shall mark the series and number of the passport or a substitute document of the voter who voted outside the polling station in the voters list. At the same time, the words “Voted outside the polling station” shall be written in the relevant column (columns) of the voters list and certified by signatures of the above members of the precinct election commission. (as amended by Federal Law No. 93-FZ of July 21, 2005)


13. Voting outside the polling station may be observed by members of the election commission having the right of consultative vote and observers. In this case, a precinct election commission shall provide the same possibilities to come to the place of voting both to members of the precinct election commission having the right of casting vote who conduct voting outside the polling station and to at least two members of the election commission having the right of consultative vote and observers appointed by different registered candidates. Voting outside the polling station shall be organized so as to prevent any violations of electoral rights of citizens and distortion of the expression of voters’ will.


14. If a voter who submitted an application (request) for voting outside the polling station comes to the polling station to vote after the voting members of a precinct election commission were sent to him to conduct voting outside the polling station, none of the members of the precinct election commission shall issue a ballot to this voter at the polling station until the members of the precinct election commission who went to the voter in response to his application (request) to conduct voting outside the polling station come back and until it is determined that the voter did not vote outside the polling station.


15. Upon completion of voting outside the polling station a precinct election commission shall execute a report indicating the number of ballots issued to the members of the precinct election commission having the right of casting vote who conducted voting outside the polling station; number of written applications from voters asking for a possibility to vote outside the polling station; number of ballots issued to such voters and number of returned ballots (ballots which were not used or were spoiled by voters); data of the members of the precinct election commission having the right of casting vote who conducted voting outside the polling station, the members of the precinct election commission having the right of consultative vote and observers who were present when voting was conducted outside the polling station with the use of each mobile ballot box. The provisions of Article 72 as amended by Federal Law No. 263-FZ of October 4, 2010 shall apply to legal relations arising with respect to holding elections and referenda appointed after the said Federal Law (part 4 of Article 6 of Federal Law No. 263-FZ of October 4, 2010) has come into force.