Gvozdeva, M. O. International and Russian Experience of Internet Voting

Abstract: The study is devoted to the analysis of Internet voting as a form of elections. The purpose of this study is to make it possible to implement the system of Internet voting during elections in the Russian Federation. The author of the article tries to achieve the following tasks: -gives defi nition of the Internet voting; -analyzes international and Russian experience in such elections; - defi nes pluses and minuses of the Internet voting. In order to solve these tasks, the author analyzes the Russian and foreign mass media as well as regulatory documents, in particular: Constitution of the Russian Federation, Federal laws such as: On Basic Guarantees of Voting Rights and the Right for Participation in the Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation, On Electing Deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, On Elections of the President of the Russian Federation, decrees of the Central election commission of the Russian Federation and international documents such as: Guides on Legal, Organizational and Technical Aspects of Electronic Voting and Guides on Electronic Democracy. In general, this study is a research of Internet voting based on comparison of various experiences of its implementation. The results of the study prove the expediency and relevance of activities performed by the Central election commission of the Russian Federation. In order to implement this form of elections, it is necessary to develop and legalize regulatory acts allowing to use Internet during elections. In order to create the system of Internet voting, it is necessary to attract a great number of qualifi ed employees. It is also very important to take into account German experience which used state institutions and regular universities for creation and testing of the system of Internet voting. It is also desirable to perform pilot projects of Internet voting abroad, in the fi rst place, in countries with high population of the RF citizens which traditionally demonstrate low percent of voter participation (Germany, USA, Israel). It is also desirable to continue pilot projects to a wider extent inside the country and perform them in a greater number of the Russian Federation constituents. All these measures would allow to increase the number of voters and enable all RF citizens to participate in elections disregarding their location.

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