Constitutional right of citizens to initiate amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation

Abstract

The article describes a new form of democracy – direct citizen participation in the all-Russian voting on the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Justifying this form of direct democracy, the authors suggest to regulate all-Russian voting in the Federal law “On the Procedure for the Adoption and Entry into Force of Amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation" or in a different specific Federal law”. The high degree of legitimacy of the adopted amendments to the basic law of the country is confirmed by large-scale public surveillance of the legality, openness, and security of voting during the coronavirus infection. The leading coordination role in organizing public monitoring of all-Russian voting belongs to the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and public chambers of Russian regions. In the article it is suggested to regulate public surveillance as a form of public control over elections and voting in the Federal law “On the Bases of Public Control in the Russian Federation”, extending its effect to electoral public relations.