The Central Election Commission has adopted a special decree to this effect, stating that it has already discussed a report (which is posted on the commission’s website) summing up the experience of the 2002-2004 election campaigns and containing proposals on changing and amending the Russian legislation on elections and referendums. This report will now be submitted for consideration to more specialists on election law.

Section 6 of this report, which is entitled Issues Relating to the Legal Regulation of the Information Support of Elections, has a direct relation to the mass media. In particular, this section contains the following conclusion. The coverage of federal election campaigns provided by Russian state broadcasters has shown that the information policy of such organizations in this area can be biased (which international observers have pointed out). In this connection, one of the most serious problems of the information support of elections is providing a balanced and unbiased coverage of election campaigns by broadcasters. In this connection, the Central Election Commission believes it is necessary to take measures to prevent such things in the future. However, in the opinion of the Central Election Commission, to solve this problem the journalistic community needs to be able to regulate itself, i.e., observe the rules and ethical principles of the journalistic profession set forth in the above-mentioned decree.

At the same time, the legislation on the mass media is in need of improvement. In particular, it is necessary to give a precise definition of the concept of "information program. The rule under which editorial boards, editors-in-chief, and journalists are responsible for materials that are reproductions of publications run by other mass media (including Internet sites) (which is set forth in Article 57 of the law On the Mass Media of the Russian Federation) should be suspended for the period of election campaigns.

In general, the Central Election Commission admits that the law enforcement practices in the area of public information, including the methods used for detecting violations of the principles governing public information, are in need of improvement. In addition, the Central Election Commission believes there is a need to specify the concept of "national organization of television and radio broadcasting" and "regional organization of television and radio broadcasting, taking into account the fact that responsibility for the content of materials distributed should be borne by the broadcaster that produces these materials.

On the basis of the legal positions of the Russian Constitutional Court set forth in the Central Election Commission’s decree, the definition of the term "election canvassing" is also in need of correction.

The Central Election Commission also believes improvements are needed in the legal regulation of relations arising when candidates, political parties, and election blocs are provided free air time and print space.

2. The previous edition of this bulletin contained a report on the decision made by the committee 2008: Free Choice to file a lawsuit with the Russian Supreme Court seeking the annulment of the December 2003 State Duma elections. One of the reasons for such a lawsuit is that a whole number of political parties did not receive equal access to the media during the election campaign. A commentary prepared by a CJES legal expert to this lawsuit can be found at the end of this bulletin.

1. Almost eight months from the elections of the head of the Sergiyev-Posad region (Moscow region), the Moscow region's court found the violations committed by Anatoly Upyryov, who won the elections, so serious that it decided to cancel the election results.

Evidence on which this ruling is based was collected by the Sergiyev-Posad City Court. That evidence indicates that Upyryov abused his office during the election campaign. IN particular, the newspaper Khoroshiy Vkus (Good taste), which is owned by the meat processing plant headed by Upyryov, had a circulation of 60,000 copies during the election campaign and the additional expenses were not covered out of the candidate’s election fund. In spite of that, the city court did not make any decisions that could aggravate its relationship with the local administration and ruled that the violations were minor.

However, the regional court was less biased. After carefully examining the evidence, the court’s civil collegium determined that Upyryov had spent over 100,000 rubles beyond the amount of his election fund, thus exceeding his spending limit by 10%. The court found that to be a major violation and invalidated the election results.

The territorial election commission has decided to hold the next elections in April 2005. Upyryov’s supporters are trying the change the situation in the region and cause the commission to reconsider the date of the next elections. The city has been flooded with flyers and special editions of Khoroshiy Vkus criticizing the court ruling and the decision made by the election commission. The paper again has a circulation of 60,000 copies and is being distributed for free. In the meantime, the election commission of the Moscow region has upheld the election commission’s decision to schedule the elections for April 2005.

2. The Urals Television Agency (TAU), a popular media organization in the Sverdlovsk region, has declared an information war on Anton Bakov, a member of the State Duma. Local observers believe the agency’s attack is more like a preventive strike before the elections to the Yekaterinburg city parliament.

In early September, Bakov, a former candidate to the post of the head of the local administration, went to the top of the list of the region’s unpopular persons. It is interesting that in all materials published on September 6 Bakov was not the main character and the publications were devoted to things like the production of drinking water in the Chelyabinsk region or the fight against illegal trade in alcohol. However, in all materials Bakov’s name was mentioned in a negative context. In all of those cases, information came from TAU.

3. The elections of Penza mayor are due to take place in December 2004. However, information wars have already began in the city.

The Penza weekly Vestnik in its article Father Frost’s Generosity (published in the 36^th edition of the paper) tried to show its readership the true face of Igor Mikhailov, the head of the Penza Water Board, who is a prospective candidate for mayor. According to the article, Mikhailov has already begun his election campaign as he regularly appears on all local television channels. According to information possessed by Vestnik, Mikhailov is hiding his sources of income that he uses to pay for his election advertisements. In addition, the paper alleges that Mikhailov is not the head of the water board, but only its manager as the board went bankrupt a long time ago.

Mikhailov has so far been ignoring the paper’s publications about him.

4. The newspaper Bryanskiye Budni has accused the governor of the Bryansk region of starting the election campaign before the due date (the elections are scheduled to take place in December 2004). The newspaper says the publication of a picture featuring the governor together with Russian President Vladimir Putin is a propaganda move directed against the incumbent governor. The picture is accompanied by the words "Stepping firmly into the future."

5. Arkhangelsk media analysts said their guesses about the bias of the newspaper Nezavisimy Vzglyad, which were published during the past federal elections, are being confirmed. On September 1, the paper got a new editor, Andrei Samoilov, and on September 8, the first edition of the paper was published under him. In that edition, the name of Vladimir Krupchak, a State Duma deputy, was mentioned much more times that it had been before. For this reason, analysts believe that the paper’s dependence on the Titan group became much more obvious with the coming of the new editor.

Arkhangelsk media analysts are inclined to believe that the high number of times Krupchak’s name was mentioned in the paper indicates that the paper has begun to openly express its affiliation with the Titan group. Moreover, they believe the paper’s dependence on the group will grow even more noticeable now that the elections of Arkhangelsk mayor are coming. They also believe that the next editions of the paper will mention the name of a Titan representative, who will be running for mayor of Arkhangelsk.

Stanislav Govorukhin, a well-known movie producer and a State Duma deputy, has recently said in an interview with one newspaper: "For every extra kopeck spent on an [election] campaign people should not simply be removed from the election race, but be put in jail."

The newspaper Bryanskiye Budni has published an article entitled "Will Putin Lodkin Pay Putin for Advertising? The article addressed the moral and legal aspect of the publication of a picture featuring Bryansk Governor Yury Lodkin.

The governor was not happy with the interest of the public to the administration’s election canvassing moves. Lodkin filed a lawsuit with the Bryansk region’s court, asking to find the information contained in the article inaccurate and damaging his honor, dignity and business reputation.

The main problem in this case will be to determine whether President Vladimir Putin had given his consent to have his image used in the governor’s election ad. And this means that the court may raise the question of summoning the president to the trial as a witness in the case.

Below is a comment to this situation given by Yevgeny Panchenko, a lawyer from the Inter-regional Human Rights Center, who represents the interests of Bryanskiye Budni: "A request has now been prepared to the Bryansk region’s court to summon Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich to court as a witness in this case. Under the current legislation, personal non-property rights and other non-material assets of a citizen are protected by law and cannot be transferred or alienated to other persons. The image of president of the Russian Federation and citizen Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich is his personal non-material asset and he is entitled to it by birth. Consequently, this non-material asset cannot be used in advertising materials without Vladimir Putin’s knowledge and consent."

According to information possessed by Bryanskiye Budni, Putin did not give his consent to have his image used in advertising. If the court wishes to create the necessary conditions for a comprehensive and complete investigation into this case, the president may have to adjust his schedule to fit a visit to the Bryansk region into it, the paper says.

Information stating that some legal entities and private individuals have decided to file a lawsuit with the Russian Supreme Court seeking the annulment of the results of the 2003 State Duma elections is receiving much attention from journalists for several reasons.

Firstly, one of the reasons for this lawsuit is violations in the information sphere, namely the fact that, according to the plaintiffs, "a whole number of political parties did not get equal access to the media to conduct election canvassing." A proper probe into this will inevitably strengthen the professional and legal status of journalists in Russia.

Secondly, conscientious journalists are always interested in receiving and analyzing additional alternative information on major conflicts. The plaintiffs are promising to publish many new facts that will be very interesting to all thinking readers.

Thirdly, the authorities of any democratic country should also be interested in a comprehensive and prompt investigation into all violations of citizens’ election rights and the punishment of the culprits of these violations. It is important for the legitimacy of the administration in general and strengthening the authority of the judicial system in particular.

Fourth, such investigations, which have already been conducted in other countries, have come to be called "strategic litigation," which is aimed at establishing a legal precedent of protection of a violated right for the purpose of using it later in all similar cases. Thus, society receives solid guarantees of transparency of the election process in the future.

In addition, if all the above-mentioned things for some reason do not eventuate, Russia’s most active citizens will be able to see if the Russian election and judicial system is meets only the national legislation, but also the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.