Model of electoral behavior of russian citizens in the conditions of digitalization of the electoral process

The introduction of information and communication technologies (hereinafter referred to as ICT) occurs not only in sectors of the country’s national economy, but is widely used in the electoral process. Moscow has accumulated some experience in introducing and effectively using ICT during the preparation and conduct of election campaigns. In the fall of 2023 shortly before the election of the Mayor of Moscow, the author conducted a survey of residents of the capital city. The organizers of the survey of the citizens were tasked with collecting, summarizing and analyzing the opinions of the Moscow electorate on the issue of introducing digital technologies in elections. The article provides specific results of a survey of Muscovites, their attitude towards the use of electronic technologies in the elections. The author argues about the advisability of increasing the legitimacy of elected authorities by increasing the voter turnout indicator. Specific examples demonstrate that the introduction of digitalization into the electoral process ultimately helps to increase the legitimacy of elected parties, public associations and their candidates. Analyzing the results of the elections to federal, regional and local executive and legislative bodies in recent years (2021–2024), as well as the results of the above-mentioned survey of Moscow residents, the author proposes an option for constructing a causality model using an external factor such as digitalization, which has a significant influence on the electoral process.

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