How Russian Presidential Elections Work

How Russian Presidential Elections Work

By Craig A Weiser


Electing the President in Russia is pretty straight forward. There are no electors acting as middle-men like there are in the United States. The president is elected directly by the Russian voters. The candidate who receives more than fifty percent of the vote is elected. If no candidate gets more than fifty percent, a runoff election is held approximately two weeks later.
The runoff election is held between the two candidates who received the most votes in the first election. The candidate with the most votes in the runoff election is elected. This is the basic top-two runoff electoral method for single winner elections.
Russian presidential elections have a few unique traits about them:

• Russia has nine times zones, which means that the last polling stations close nine hours after the first polling stations do. If results from the first parts of the country are aired as they come in, it could affect voting behavior in parts of Russia, where the polling stations are still open.
• There are no "vice-presidential" candidates or even a Vice-President at all in Russia. If a Russia President dies, resigns or is forced to leave office, the Russian Prime Minister takes his or her place.
• The fairness of Russian elections has been a topic of controversy especially in the last few elections. The governing party has been accused of manipulating the vote and coercing opposition candidates not to run in the election.

A candidate is eligible to run for president if they are a Russian citizen thirty-five years old or older. They must also have had their main residence in Russia for at least ten consecutive years or more.
The President is elected for a six-year term. They cannot server more than two terms in a row. This length of the Presidents term was increased from four years to six years in December 2008. The first President to have a six-year term is the president elected in the year 2012.
The President of the Russian Federation may be forced to leave their office before the end of their term. This must be done through an impeachment process. The process is started by the Russian Duma, the lower house of parliament. If two-thirds of its members decide the president should be impeached, then the upper house, the Federal Council, will be called upon to vote on the impeachment. The President is considered impeached and thus forced to leave office, if two-thirds of the Federal Council vote for the Presidents impeachment. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation must confirm the impeachment.
If you are looking for more information about elections, go to http://www.yourelection.net
There you will find information about elections in various countries, a schedule of past and upcoming elections and an online game, where you can take part in a play election for the president of the United States.

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