It is obvious to everyone that elections are not just a technical procedure of formation of certain bodies by means of voting, but first of all it is a very complicated political process involving various groups and layers of society, political parties and other public associations. It is at the elections that political and economic interests of individuals and different clans clash. Democratic elections allow citizens to elect and displace public figures, to influence the composition of ruling elites and their leaders, and are therefore an essential part of the political process, and the election campaign itself is most often in the form of violent clashes between opposing political forces.
In other words, elections are always a struggle for power. And it is very important that as many people as possible understand the essence of this political process, first of all their place in it, and participate in the elections consciously, and not as a mechanism for voting, in order to achieve the election of the truly worthy.
In countries with high political culture and political stability, elections are the foundation of democratic society. The effectiveness of elections depends on many factors, among them the established electoral system of a country.
The electoral system is an extremely complex and dynamic phenomenon. Its specific content varies from country to country, and within one country it changes over time under the influence of numerous circumstances.
In the scientific literature, the term "electoral system", including in Russian jurisprudence, is usually used in two meanings - broad and narrow.
In a broad sense, the electoral system is a system of public relations related to the election of public authorities. It is obvious that the electoral system in such a broad sense is regulated not only by legal norms. The sphere of these relations is rather wide. It includes the issues of determining the circle of voters and elected ones, and the infrastructure of elections (creation of electoral units, electoral bodies, etc.), and the relations formed at each stage of the electoral process up to its completion. The electoral system is regulated by the norms of electoral law, understood as a system of legal norms, which is a subsector of constitutional (state) law. However, not the entire electoral system is regulated by legal norms. It also includes relations regulated by corporate norms (charters of political public associations, etc.), as well as customs and traditions of the society.
However, people are more interested in the electoral system in the so-called narrow sense. This is a way of determining which of the candidates who have been elected to the office or as a deputy. Depending on which electoral system is used, the results of elections with the same voting results can be quite different. Therefore, political forces often compete for a more advantageous electoral system (although they may make mistakes in assessing its usefulness).
If one tries to define the term "electoral system" abstracting from its meaning in a narrow or broad sense, then, apparently, the electoral system should be understood as a set of rules, techniques, procedures, processes and institutions that provide for the legitimate formation of elected bodies of state power and local self-government on the basis of adequate representation of the diverse interests of civil society.
Undoubtedly, the electoral system as an integral part of the political system is divided into structural components, the most common of which are the following: the theoretical and legal component and the electoral procedure (or the electoral process) - a practical organizational component.
The electoral law is a set of legal norms regulating citizens' participation in elections, their organization and conduct, relations between voters and elected bodies or officials, as well as the order of recall of elected representatives that have not justified the trust of voters. This term can also be used in another, narrower sense, namely, the right of a citizen to participate in elections, both as a voter (active suffrage) and as a voter (passive suffrage).
The electoral procedure is a practical organizational part of the electoral system. It includes the activities of the state in the organization and conduct of elections, namely: the appointment of elections, the establishment of electoral bodies responsible for their conduct, the organization of electoral districts, districts, polling stations, registration of candidates for deputies, some financial support for the elections, the protection of order during their conduct, the definition of the results of voting.