Held over three days and 11 time zones, last weekend’s local and regional elections in Russia saw candidates put forward by the ruling United Russia party win almost every race, to the surprise of absolutely nobody.
Independent candidates were noticeably absent from the ballot due to the municipal filter, a legal requirement for would-be candidates to have the backing of between 5-10% of local lawmakers, which also conveniently ensures anyone challenging the status quo will be disqualified before the election campaign even begins. The only alternative to voting for United Russia this year was voting for one of the Kremlin-sanctioned opposition parties, whose candidates exist solely to give the impression of political plurality.
Voter rights movement Golos, the only election watchdog in Russia independent of the government, reported that citizens’ ability to exercise their voting rights had “significantly worsened, even compared to the low bar set by the elections five years ago”.
Overall, this year’s regional elections “turned out to be even less free and fair,” Golos concluded, citing multiple measures that had compromised the vote. These included preparations made for votes also controversially being held in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, which Golos called “unprecedented”. No information is available on voter turnout at polling stations in the annexed territories or even the exact extent of the territory they cover. A decision to ban election monitors from observing the vote in the occupied Ukrainian regions further undermined the process.