38 COMMUNIST PARTY OF RUSSIA AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT candidate on the list of United Russia. However, such a practice was quite widespread, was provided for by law and had also been used by representatives of other political forces, including the Communist Party itself during the elections of 2000. 133. In the applicants’ opinion, during the period preceding the 2003 elections electoral law had not been stable and had increased the chances of the United Russia party to the detriment of smaller political parties. Within one year of the 2003 elections, four Laws had been passed introducing amendments to the Basic Guarantees Act, and four others introducing amendments to the Duma Elections Act. For example, the Law of 23 June 2003 introducing amendments to section 36 of the Political Parties Act and introducing amendments to the State Duma Elections Act had banned public associations other than political parties from standing in the State Duma elections. Further, pursuant to the amendments of 23 June 2003 political parties in debt to TV and radio broadcasters at the date on which the decision calling an election was officially published were not granted free airtime during the elections. That restriction had affected two political parties which had participated in the 2003 elections. The amendments of 4 July 2003 had enlarged the list of public associations banned from entering the electoral blocs. The applicants also produced a detailed analysis of numerous changes in the electoral legislation after 2003, which, in their opinion, had increased the domination of the majority party still further. 134. Second, the applicants claimed that United Russia had deliberately misled the voters in so far as the intention of its key member to be elected to the Duma was concerned. In the aftermath of the elections 37 freshly elected members had renounced their mandates. Most of them had been high-level public officials who had thus kept their positions in the executive while ceding their places in the parliament to candidates not known to the voters. Such a mass forfeiture of seats had violated the principle of “legitimate expectation” on the part of the voters and was not accidental. 135. As to the first point raised by the applicants, the Court considers that, as such, countries are free to amend and modify their legislation on elections, provided that they remain within their margin of appreciation under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. In the present case the applicants (both individual and party candidates) did not demonstrate how the changes to the legislation they mentioned had directly affected them or the parties they represented. Their complaint in this respect appears to be an actio popularis and must therefore be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention. 136. As to the forfeiture of mandates by the MPs elected on behalf of United Russia, the Court notes that the Russian electoral system at the time combined elements of proportional representation and the majority system (see paragraph 38 above). By casting a vote for a political party the voter supported the whole list of candidates, and not a particular person. It was