COUNTERING THE FALSIFICATION OF ELECTION RESULTS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Involvement of the population in the management of state affairs through voting in elections and referendums allows citizens to determine the main directions of the implemented policy. An analysis of the peculiarities of the electoral process in the Russian Federation makes it possible to single out a number of violations committed in relation to the electoral rights of citizens by members of electoral commissions. At the same time, falsification of the voting results, which significantly distort the expression of the will of citizens and discredit the institution of elections and the referendum process as a whole, have a particular public danger. Despite the fact that Russian criminal legislation has long been regulating the specifics of bringing persons to justice for falsifying voting results, these crimes are still prevalent in electoral practice. The purpose of writing a research paper is to analyze the current mechanisms for combating vote rigging in the Russian Federation. The author concludes that the ineffectiveness of the mechanisms for combating this crime is due to the incorrectness and inconsistency of the wording of the current criminal law norm (Article 142.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which does not take into account the different degree of public danger of certain illegal acts committed in the process of falsifying the voting results and the results of elections and referendums based on them. In this context, it seems necessary to change the current criminal law in terms of identifying several elements of this crime depending on the direct subject of the unlawful act, the appropriate differentiation of punishments for their commission, as well as the allocation of qualifying features. Improving the criminal legal framework for countering vote rigging will have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the fight against this crime.

falsification of voting results, the institution of elections, crimes against constitutional human rights and freedoms, combating crime, Russian criminal legislation