MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, passed a draft law Friday canceling the 20% minimum threshold for election voter turnout.
The bill was sponsored by lawmakers from the United Russia, Rodina (Homeland) and Liberal Democratic (LDPR) factions, and also punishes extremist actions during election campaigns.
In addition to a provision barring persons convicted of felonies or extremist activities from running in elections, the bill also bars persons who have incurred administrative penalties for propagating Nazi slogans and regalia.
The draft law, which still has to be approved by the president, also bans the use of commercials and appeals to vote against other candidates in election videos. Open debates and printed materials are not covered by the ban.
But the bill came under criticism from some officials and political parties.
Central Election Commission Chairman Alexander Veshnyakov challenged parts of the bill, saying it would be premature to abolish the lower limit for voter turnout, but spoke in favor of other changes proposed in the bill.
"The prospective changes include some positive, indisputable proposals, but there are objectionable proposals as well, that could be called premature. The decision to remove the voter turnout threshold is among those I consider to be premature," he said.
Veshnyakov said that in the future, the turnout minimum could be reduced to 5%, but not less.
The Communist Party also opposed the bill, arguing that abolishing the turnout threshold will make the country's electoral system "unviable" and incapable of reflecting the will of the people.
