Constitution of the Russian Federation

Introduction. Elections are one of the basic values of democracy; they provide citizens with the opportunity to participate in the administration of state affairs. Theoretical analysis. The Constitution of Russia of 1993 in article 32 enshrines the electoral rights of Russian citizens – the right to elect (active suffrage) and the right to be elected (passive electoral right) to state and local government bodies. In the same article, the Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes restrictions on the electoral rights of Russian citizens. Empirical analysis. The Constitution of Russia, firstly, establishes uniform restrictions for active and passive electoral rights (citizens who are recognized as incompetent by a court and who are imprisoned by a court sentence do not have the right to elect and be elected); secondly, it provides for restrictions only on passive suffrage (age limit, permanent residence requirement, prohibition to run for the third time in a row - for a candidate for the President of the Russian Federation; age limit - for a candidate for deputy of the State Duma); thirdly, it establishes the general conditions for the restriction of all rights and freedoms of a person and citizen, in accordance with which federal laws establish additional restrictions on electoral rights. Results. It is concluded that: 1) the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation itself restricts the active electoral right and the passive electoral right of Russian citizens; 2) on the basis of part 3 of article 55, federal laws establish a wide range of additional (with respect to the constitutional) restrictions on voting rights.