Introduction: the article discusses the organizational and legal problems of the competition for election to the position of the head of the municipality, which are subject to elimination by amending the relevant regulatory legal acts. Materials and methods: the normative basis of the study was the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as federal laws and municipal legal acts that establish the procedure for organizing and conducting a competition for election to the post of head of a municipality. The methodological basis of the study was made up of interrelated general scientific and private scientific methods of dialectical cognition of legal reality. The system-structural method made it possible to comprehend the replacement of a position as an element of the organization of local government, the comparative legal method made it possible to identify features in fixing the procedure for organizing and holding a competition for the replacement of the position of the head of a municipality and the head of a local administration. The results of the study made it possible to substantiate the possibility of improving the competition procedure for election to the post of head of a municipality before the adoption and entry into force of the draft law on local self-government adopted by the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the first reading. Conclusions and conclusions: the planned changes in the methods of electing the head of the municipality should not hinder the improvement of the competition for the selection of candidates for this position, enshrined in the current Russian legislation. The elimination of the identified gaps in the legal regulation of the organization and conduct of the competition will increase not only the efficiency of the municipal government, but also the confidence of the local population in alternative direct elections for the replacement of positions significant for municipalities.