I can’t even say how many emails and comments I’ve received asking me to post this video. Watch it. And show it to everyone. An amendment to the law is being passed by 88 deputies present in the chamber. (I’m not discussing the substance of the bill; that’s not the point.) There are 450 deputies in total. A quorum for a session is 225 people. One of the users made my job easier and sent me an excerpt from the State Duma regulations: Rules of Procedure of the State Duma Adopted by resolution of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on January 22, 1998, No. 2134–II GD *Article 44 A session of the State Duma begins with the registration of deputies present at the session, conducted by the presiding officer. ****2. A session of the State Duma is valid if a majority of the total number of deputies of the chamber is present. A deputy of the State Duma is required to attend its sessions. **4. If unable to attend a session of the chamber, a deputy of the State Duma shall inform the head of the faction, or the chair of the committee or commission, or the Chairman of the State Duma in advance (as amended by resolution of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of October 9, 2007, No. 5134–4 GD — Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2007, No. 42, Art. 4981). Registration of deputies present at the session is carried out after each recess in the chamber’s session. When closing the session, the presiding officer reminds deputies of the procedure for the next session of the State Duma. A deputy of the State Duma has the right to register using an electronic card, and in its absence, from the microphone or by submitting a personal written statement on the prescribed form. You could write this off as a clown show and have fun mocking the deputies on blogs, if they weren’t being paid out of our pockets. Brazen, completely shameless bastards. What especially infuriates me are the freaks and crooks from United Russia (the ruling political party). They are repealing an amendment that they themselves passed six months ago (everyone else was against it). The reporting speaker is once again Deputy Moskalets (United Russia), who previously introduced the amendment now being repealed, but brazenly lies that he doesn’t remember who it came from. I simply don’t have the capacity to launch new legal campaigns anymore, but if an initiative group of lawyers and just active, capable people comes together to start proceedings against these freaks and idlers, I’ll support it however I can. With advice, PR, and so on. P.S. As for the “super-lawyers” who are about to flood the comments and start pontificating that everything was done by the rules and nothing can be achieved, I’m telling them to go to hell right now. We can all see a simple thing. Deputies (first and foremost United Russia) do not attend sessions; instead, they hand their cards over to the faction so that the “duty officer” can register on their behalf and then vote. Let’s drop the casuistry. We all understand perfectly well that it is the deputy who votes, not the card. And it is the deputy who must be present, not his card. Let Morozov, who chaired the session, officially answer that there were physically 226 deputies there, but that 138 of them stepped out to the cafeteria for pastries at the moment of the vote. The case will almost certainly be lost (otherwise it would invalidate years of the State Duma’s work, and the authorities will never allow that), but even so it would be an excellent act of civic action. 100% of people will understand that we are right and will support us.