The 2013 Moscow mayoral election was held on September 8, 2013, as part of the regional elections, at the same time as the elections in Moscow Oblast and other Oblasts were held.
Elections were held after Mayor Sergey Sobyanin had announced his departure on June 4. The elections were the first time in 10 years that citizens of the federal city of Moscow could choose their mayor by a popular vote.
Moscow is both a city and separate federal subject, according to the Constitution of Russia. Most of federal subjects are headed by governors or presidents, but the office of the head of Moscow is called "Mayor of Moscow", according to the Charter of the city of Moscow. Sergey Sobyanin won with 51.37% of the vote in the first round, with Alexei Navalny receiving 27.24% of the vote, significantly more than previously expected by the polls. Sobyanin was declared the winner after the first round. Voter turnout was 33.23%. The total number of registered voters was 7,176,568.
Background.
The position of Mayor of Moscow was elected between 1991 and 2004. In 2004, Vladimir Putin suggested a law to abolish direct elections of governors, the Moscow mayor, and presidents of Russian regions. The law was swiftly adopted by the parliament. The new legislation moved the election system to an indirect one in which parliamentary political parties and the President of Russia nominated a candidate who must then have been approved by the Moscow City Duma. Following the 2011–13 Russian protests which followed the 2011 parliamentary election, President Dmitry Medvedev offered to re-introduce the direct elections of the governors and the mayor of Moscow, and corresponding legislation was approved by the Parliament.
On June 5, 2013, the incumbent mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, who was nominated as mayor in 2010, announced his resignation from the post. Russian law allows the mayor to resign and run again for the same office if the president gives his approval. A short time later, Sobyanin confirmed his intention to stand for election.
Regulations.
A candidate to the office must be citizen of the Russian Federation over the age of 30. Self-nomination of candidates for the post of Mayor of Moscow, and the collection of signatures of 1% of Moscow voters (about 73 000 signatures) in support of the nomination shall be made within 30 days of the official publication of the decision to call the election. Or alternatively these signatures are not needed for candidates from registered political party.
Each of the political parties (electoral blocks were cancelled in the early 2000s) can nominate only one candidate for the post of mayor. In this case, the candidate can not give consent to be nominated from several polling organizations. The candidate nominated by self-nomination cannot give consent to be nominated in the same election by an electoral association.
A candidate for mayor of Moscow may have up to 100 "trusted representatives". The maximum amount of a candidate's election fund shall not exceed 200 million rubles. In the second round of this amount may be increased by 10 percent.
Municipal filter.
All registered candidates are required to pass so called municipal filter introduced be a federal law of 2012: all candidates are required to receive support from at least 6% of elected municipal deputies or heads of municipalities. Those supporting municipal deputies should represent no less than 75% of the federal subject's municipalities. One deputy can only support one candidate. For Moscow 2013 elections it means that every candidate should provide signatures of at least 110 elected municipal deputies representing 75% of all Moscow municipalities. Since most municipalities are controlled by the United Russia party the municipal filter is especially hard to pass for the opposition candidates.
Criteria for election.
To be elected a candidate must get more than 50% of votes. If no one achieves 50%, a runoff is to be held in 14 days. Only the two most successful candidates from the first round participate in the second round.
Election date.
In a vote held on June 6, 27 members of Moscow City Duma backed the proposed date, and only two voted against it.
Registered candidates.
Registration for the election was completed on July 17.
Potential candidates.
About 40 persons wanted to participate in the elections.
Results.
The results were (turnout was 32.07%):
References.
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