May 26, 2026, 8:41 a.m.
Editor's Note
Dear colleagues and friends,
The fifteenth (first in 2026) issue of our journal includes five papers and a discussion piece.
The issue opens with a paper by Andrey V. Podlazov, which proposes a method for the spatio-temporal decomposition of vote returns and illustrates its application using federal and regional elections in Moscow in 2012–2018 as an example.
Vladimir V. Kostromin’s paper examines a large body of municipal elections in Russia held under the multiple nontransferable vote system in multi-seat constituencies. Using the degree to which voters use their available votes as an indicator, the author shows that voter behavior in such elections corresponds to the "free" model of voting, which assumes that candidates are selected based of their individual characteristics.
Yulya S. Yeltsova analyzes the impact of "observers" (members of precinct election commissions with either deciding or consultative vote) on electoral indicators in the 2021 elections to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, and demonstrates that the observer effect does indeed exist. The paper also shows that "observers" with different statuses have different degrees of influence.
Arkadii E. Lyubarev’s paper examines the role of the diaspora in Moldova’s elections from 2014 to 2025. It shows differences between diaspora and resident voting, as well as differences in diaspora voting across countries.
Aleksei A. Elaev raises the issue that the system of departmental awards for members of election commissions creates a fundamental imbalance between the scale of the work performed by grassroots election organizers and their effective exclusion from the system of social recognition. Arkadii E. Lyubarev's response piece argues that the system of awards for election commission members suffers from more fundamental defects, since it permits the official recognition of election commission leaders involved in violations of citizens' electoral rights.
We hope the new issue will further secure the journal’s status in academic circles and the pool of topics and authors will continue to expand.