The Central Election Commission and the first multiparty elections in the Russian Federation in 1993: organizational and political aspects

The subject of the research is the study of the activities of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation as a key link in the implementation of electoral and constitutional reforms in 1993. The relevance of the topic is caused by the almost complete lack of specialized research that focuses on the work of the Central Election Commission as an organizational and political institution responsible for the implementation of crucial government decisions. The process of forming a new federal election commission is being considered, as well as new competencies that the Central Election Commission had to master from the very first days of its work. The new CEC, unlike its Soviet counterpart, which performed mainly organizational and technical functions, was an authorized body with specific authority and made political decisions (within its competence). The situation was complicated by the fact that the first multiparty elections, as well as the constitutional referendum, were held in an atmosphere of antagonistic confrontation that had not yet been completely eliminated, the impact of which negatively affected the election campaign.  The methods of historical (historical-genetic, historical-systemic), political (structural-functional) and legal (formal-legal) disciplines are used as research tools. The conducted research revealed that the activities of the Central Election Commission of Russia played a key role in modernizing the country's electoral system, especially in the context of a tense socio-political situation caused by the conflict between the legislative and presidential authorities that has not yet been completely eliminated. Participation in the new Central Election Commission itself became a definite expression of loyalty to the presidential government and the adoption of new rules of the game established after September 21, 1993. At the same time, Boris Yeltsin, forming the first composition of the Central Election Commission, tried to take into account the opinion of the regions as an important resource in the fight against the Soviet government. The Central Election Commission and its leadership, being in the epicenter of the political confrontation, sought to carefully manage the electoral process so as not to undermine the very essence of democratic elections and thereby avoid deepening the crisis in the country. Scientific novelty consists in the study of a topic that was not previously a special object of research, as well as in the introduction of new sources (periodical press data).

Central Election Commission, elections, electoral associations, Constitution, B.N. Yeltsin, N.T. Ryabov, V.L. Sheinis, State Duma, Communist Party, mass media