ELECTRONIC COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES IN SUPPORT OF A CANDIDATE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RUSSIAN AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE
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Abstract
The article is devoted to a comparative legal analysis of foreign and domestic experiences on the introduction of electronic collection of signatures of voters in support of nominated candidates. To conduct this study, several criteria were used, including: the level of elections, the online platforms used for this purpose, legislative regulation, and the number of electronic signatures allowed for a candidate in relation to paper signatures.
The article cites member States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) that have sufficient potential and technical capability to introduce the mechanism under consideration, but currently do not use such an instrument.
The paper outlines the election campaigns of a number of states, in which proposals were put forward to use electronic signature collection in support of candidates, but were not supported by parliaments, as well as the experience of judicial challenge against the inadmissibility of online signature collection (Italian Republic).
Demonstrating the states where the collection of signatures on the Internet is allowed as part of the nomination of popular initiatives and referendums, the authors suggest the subsequent introduction, by analogy, of electronic signature collection in support of candidates nominated for elections.
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