Navalny Will Be Barred from Elections Until 2026 The criminal-record filter proposed by United Russia lawmakers differs little from a lifetime deprivation of the right to stand for election Read in full
Influential United Russia politicians — State Duma constitutional committee chairman Vladimir Pligin, his deputy Dmitry Vyatkin, and committee member Vladimir Ponevezhsky — yesterday submitted to the State Duma a proposal to limit the so-called criminal filter to 10 and 15 years (for those sentenced to prison for serious and especially serious crimes, respectively), just two weeks after the Constitutional Court issued a ruling declaring an indefinite ban on the right to be elected to be contrary to the Constitution (such a restriction came into force in 2012) and calling for specific time limits for the restoration of passive voting rights. United Russia lawmakers propose that the waiting period for overcoming the filter begin from the moment a criminal record is officially cleared; this summer, the periods for clearing such records were increased by two years, to 8 and 10 years for serious and especially serious crimes. No distinction is made between actual prison terms and suspended sentences. “Why should a criminal be making laws?” asks a senior Duma official rhetorically, commenting on the bill. Indeed, it is terrible when criminals make laws: