Problematic Issues of the Mechanism for Protecting Electoral Rights in Case of Refusal by the Election Commission to Register Candidates

Problems of the mechanism of protection of electoral rights in case of refusal of an election commission to register candidates This research is devoted to one of the aspects of electoral rights protection - protection of the rights of candidates in case of refusal of election commissions to register them. The relevance of this research topic is conditioned by the fact that the electoral legislation of the Russian Federation is formulated in such a way (perhaps unintentionally) that already at the stage of registration of candidates (at elections of any level) it allows to put them initially in an unequal position with respect to each other. This is due both to serious gaps in federal electoral legislation and to the lack of uniform judicial practice. The purpose of this paper is to define theoretical principles of the existing regulation of the mechanism of passive voting rights protection in the modern Russian electoral law and to study legal regulation of the organization of the activity of election commissions and courts when considering cases on annulment of the decision of an election commission to refuse to register a candidate, the structure of the operative part of these decisions and the problem of execution of decisions by election commissions, Using methods of scientific cognition, the work reveals existing gaps in legal regulation, as well as problems of the current system of guarantees for the protection of passive voting rights of unregistered candidates. In this study, all methods proposed by the legislation of the Russian Federation to protect the right of a candidate to be registered in elections at various levels were considered, the practical application of the legislation was analyzed, and gaps and defects in the electoral and procedural legislation in this area were identified. Theoretical proposals and specific recommendations have been formulated which are essential for improving the current federal and regional electoral legislation in the area of protecting the passive electoral right of citizens nominated as candidates.