Within the framework of democratic elections the right to vote should be provided equally capable citizens of the country. The influence that candidates have during election campaigns is a clearly worked out strategy for attracting the electorate. Today the political leader's image is one of the most effective ways of working with mass consciousness. These technologies are especially relevant during the electoral campaigns of voters. Taking into account the symbolic nature of the electoral process as a social conflict, as well as in many respects the artificial process of constructing the image of a political leader, one can assume the interdependence of these phenomena of modern life and their mutual influence on the course and results of elections. This kind of problem has not been sufficient research and, therefore, has the potential for further study. In this article, the author justifies the assumption of the interdependence of two symbolic processes: the formation of the image of a political leader and the electoral process as a social managed conflict. This paper has the analysis of elections as a managed conflict of a symbolic nature, as well as the specifics of designing the image of a politician as a «business card», which is designed to create a positive image and minimize the negative qualities of the candidates. The interplay of the processes examined in the article is illustrated by the example of an electoral conflict (the 2012 elections in the Russian Federation).