Nomination and registration of candidates for elective positions in Russia and foreign countries: comparative legal research

This work is devoted to one of the main stages of the electoral process - the stage of nomination and registration of candidates. The importance of this stage of the electoral process lies in its special role in the election campaign, since it is during the nomination and registration of candidates that those who enjoy the support of citizens and can apply for public office, and who are not, are "screened out". Therefore, proper legal regulation ensuring the fairness of this process is extremely important for the functioning of a democratic state and the normal rotation of the political elite. In each particular State, this stage and its individual stages differ in significant originality, which develops over a sometimes very long time. The regulation of this stage is peculiar in Russia. According to the author of this work, today's domestic regulation of the considered stage is not sufficiently effective and generates stagnation in the Russian political system, which affects the adoption of state decisions by the political elite. In this paper, a comparative analysis of the regulation of this stage in a number of foreign countries, especially in the post-Soviet states, which have a high degree of cultural and, consequently, legal community with Russia, is carried out in order to identify the features and advantages of specific legal models. In addition, conflicts and gaps in Russian regulation and law enforcement practice have been identified, which give rise to problems at this stage in relation to Russia. Based on the results of the analysis, the author suggests possible ways to solve the identified problems in order to make the mechanism for nominating and registering candidates more effective and meeting the criteria of a modern democratic state.