The State Duma adopted in the third final reading the draft laws on digital innovations of the CEC of Russia

On 21 May 2019 the State Duma adopted in the third final reading the draft laws on conducting experiments on the organization of remote electronic voting in the elections to the Moscow city Duma on 8 September 2019 and the creation of digital polling stations in the by-elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the seventh convocation in single-seat constituencies and elections of senior officials of the subjects of the Russian Federation.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Chairperson of the CEC of Russia Nikolay Bulaev.

During the discussion, it was noted that the work on the draft laws was carried out on the basis of a detailed analysis of the existing legislation and the past election campaigns. The digital innovations introduced into the electoral process were widely discussed in public, with the expert community and the organizers of the elections.

“Discussions are inevitable, as are fears about everything new. Any illusions will disappear, only facts will be left,” emphasized the Chairperson of the State Duma Committee on Control and Regulations Olga Savastianova. “But these facts can appear only if we try to test this system in practice.” She noted that experiments provided an opportunity to make a decision on the basis of substantive analysis.

“The use of digital technologies is not a goal in itself. They allow to solve many questions: legitimacy, objectivity, transparency, accountability, and issues of intervention. We are interested in removing these problems," said Olga Savastianova.

Nikolay Bulaev thanked his colleagues for the discussion of the draft laws during their preparation and expressed readiness of the representatives of the CEC of Russia at any time to give comprehensive explanations on the organization and implementation of experiments.

“We are open, ready to explain our position and discuss the problems that may still exist,” said Nikolay Bulaev. “Till 15 June we will discuss with colleagues-deputies all by-law regulations which were earlier already submitted to Committee as projects. Now, after the adoption of laws in the third reading, the CEC of Russia will prepare the final versions and after discussion with the relevant Committee adopt them at a meeting of the Commission.”