The new-old Central Election Commission: an authentic renewal or a superficial touch up?

We collected evidence demonstrating why the presidential vote 2024 in Cyprus can be considered the largest overseas electoral fraud in Russia's modern history.

As the presidential vote looms, Russian opposition is trying to develop the most sensible voting strategy.

Although the whole setup is highly orchestrated, three options are on the table. What are they?

Reflecting on Alexei Navalny's political journey, this text recognizes his substantial impact on Russian elections - for both the past and probably the future.

Navalny played a crucial part in enlightening Russian society about elections through his campaigns, emerging as a symbol of will and hope for the most thoughtful segment of the population.

His legacy leaves an enduring mark on the landscape of Russian politics, which will not disappear with his murder.

Boris Nadezhdin, an anti-war candidate for the Russian presidency, was not registered as such by the Russian Central Election Commission.

Being nominee of a non-parliamentary party, he needed to submit 105.000 signatures of Russian citizens in support of his candidacy. He did so, but the CEC invalidated a signification part of them.

We explain how Russian election commissions use the signatures as a tool to eliminate undesirable candidates.

Many are convinced that Nadezhdin's nomination is a well thought out plan orchestrated by the presidential administration. Even his surname has roots in the word "hope" in Russian.

Yet, these rumors have not prevented Nadezhdin from gaining almost unanimous support of Russian opposition and eventually becoming the only presidential hopeful with anti-war agenda.

On January 14, representatives of Russian exiled opposition participated in a live broadcast on TV Rain to discuss their strategy for the upcoming elections in March 2024.

REM publishes a short summary of participants’ suggestions.

Vladimir Putin is to stand for a fifth term. Little doubt remains that Kremlin will make every effort to keep him in power.

Can the upcoming vote become a window of opportunity for a democratic regime change?

Here we explain how the quite fragmented Russian opposition intends to act in the presidential elections 2024 and what it recommends to the voters.

“Every day the life of ordinary Russians is becoming more difficult. Citizens cannot freely express their opinion if it does not coincide with the position of the authorities; the number of political prisoners is growing, hundreds of thousands of people have been forced out of the country. <...>

“Military operations” on the territory of neighboring states lead to imminent isolation and degradation”, her campaign website says.

In March 2024 election, Vladimir Putin should receive at least 80% of the votes with a turnout of 80%. According to “Verstka”, these are the benchmarks that the Kremlin's domestic policy bloc is setting for the Russian authorities.

The campaign slogan consists of three words: “Pride. Hope. Confidence”. The heroes of the “Special Military Operation” will also be invited to become Putin's confidants; however, the main focus won’t be set on them or on the war itself.

How to organize a fair voting system in post-Putin Russia? How elections should be arranged and who should be responsible for this? What principles of representation should be taken into account?

Political scientist Grigory Golosov discusses these and other questions in this article.

The demand for free elections should be an indisputable cornerstone of any democratic reform program. That is why it is a common belief that the first order of business after the fall of the current regime in Russia should be to conduct free nationwide elections.

Political scientist Grigory Golosov argues that despite the importance of elections, this issue should not be the first on the agenda and explains why.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, most deputies who openly disagreed with Putin's war were sent to pre-trial detention centers or 'squeezed out' of the country.

However, despite the total suppression of the freedom of speech and assembly, there are still municipal politicians in Russia who openly oppose the war and win local elections.

We share the stories of three such heroes.

8-10 September in Russia were days of elections of State Duma deputies in four districts, heads of 21 regions, deputies of 16 regional parliaments, 12 city councils of regional capitals, as well as elections in the occupied territories and numerous local elections.

REM summarizes the main conclusions from the observation.

The practice of nominating namesake candidates or similar-looking candidates is widely used in Russian elections.

In this article, we explain how this electoral technology works to mislead the voter and pull votes away from the opposition.

Parties are reluctant to participate in elections to regional and municipal assemblies, an expert report concludes. They understand the impossibility of fair competition and do not want to invest effort in fighting the ruling party. Further, the elections in the occupied territories cannot be considered legitimate either legally or procedurally.

Read more about the results of the nomination of candidates for deputies of local and regional parliaments.

This article delves into the process of elimination of municipal autonomy from the 2010s to the present, leading us through a series of reforms that have helped Kremlin build the so-called ‘power vertical’.

A gradual transition from weak, but somewhat independent local governance toward loyal local appointees contributes to our understanding of how political decision-making works in high-capacity authoritarian states like Russia.

In the past, parties and candidates would offer distinct promises to voters, address social concerns, and even position themselves against the government. However, the current campaigns appear lackluster and devoid of a clear message. Even the topic of war is scarcely touched upon by the primary candidates.

This REM review explores why the war in Ukraine hasn't emerged as the predominant topic of the recent election campaign.

Holding elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine on 8-10 September is a daunting task for the Russian authorities.

This long read explores how the ongoing military actions affect election preparations and how the Kremlin is making sure that there are no surprises.

On the eve of the elections, Russian authorities adopted a new package of amendments to the electoral legislation. The changes aim to help candidates from the ruling party win in the September elections.

News on Just Russia's withdrawal of electoral activity in the regions began to emerge shortly after Prigozhin's uprising in June 2023. Expert opinions differ: some believe it signals the falling from favor for the systemic opposition, while others argue that the party uses the uprising as a rhetorical cover-up for the internal splits.

Prigozhin's failed mutiny on June 24th sparked various speculations concerning his support among the Russian population.

In times of political turbulence, approval ratings become subject to interpretations fueled by the hope of regime collapse. An expert explains why putting so much trust in politicians’ approval ratings originating from today’s Russia might be delusional.

As it turned out at legal proceedings held on the 9th of March, proving the illegality and inadequacy of the online voting system used in Moscow's elections in 2022 wasn't rocket science or high mathematics. On the contrary, it was as easy as asking for a certificate!

Moscow's i-voting system is not lawfully certified and contradicts legal requirements, court investigations revealed.

A new study of Russian social media proved half of the sabre-rattling messages to be artificial duplicates orchestrated from the single centre. The research has also revealed prolific pro-governmental professional bloggers trying to dominate the Russian Internet community. And yet, they are 1.5 less popular than anti-war authors.

Over 10 years, EPDE has evolved into a professional network of 16 members from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine. EPDE is united in the common goal of improving democratic election processes across Europe and providing a platform for peer learning and professionalisation for its members and experts.

The United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders and on the right to freedom and peaceful assembly and of associations issued a statement on 27 October 2022 explicitly recognising citizen and international election observers as human rights defenders.

We continue to acquaint our readers with those rare, brave individuals who challenged the Putin regime at home during elections in September 2022, when the regime began to receive the first sobering blows at the front in Ukraine.

What happened with the reckless candidates after the elections? How did they survive the ordeal? Who managed to stay, and who had to flee the country? You will learn it in the following, the final part of this coverage, which is currently being written exclusively for REM.

On 12 September 2022, President Zelensky announced the liberation of 6,000 km² in a massive counter-offensive. For President Putin, the day was the beginning of a period of humiliating defeats, of the disgraceful retreat of his army and a chaotic attempt at mobilisation.

But up to this very day, there had been an election campaign in Russia. In the choking atmosphere of "special military operation", under censorship and repression for any word of dissent, there were amazing people who dared to challenge the System.

The election outcomes were achieved in unfree, unequal election campaigns, in an environment of restrictions on the right to be elected for a substantial number of citizens and on fundamental political rights. Under such conditions, it is impossible to establish the actual will of the voters.

Without the successes in Ukraine or on the propagandistic internal front, these elections are the last opportunity for the Kremlin to assert the concept of business-as-usual, to ensure the grip on regional assemblies. It is vital in the anticipation of an economic slump, Moreover, the new municipal structure needs a strong hand. Finally, it is a testing ground for “distant voting”, impermeable for observers.

The failure of the PR campaign uncanny resembles the collapse of the military campaign on the battlefields. A new media monitoring report on "special operation" describes the unexpected resistance of the Russian population to a heavy propagandistic barrage.

The upcoming E-day in Russia: deprived of the freedom of speech and party lists, elections are still the only way to grasp the citizens' attitude towards authorities.

Essential changes to Russia’s electoral legislation were introduced after its aggression against Ukraine. Indeed, one might discern some military flavour in these adjustments: discipline, unification, centralisation, monopolisation of chain of command, and elimination of tools of civil control. Dr Arkady Lyubarev, candidate of legal sciences, co-author of federal and Moscow electoral legislation, and editor in chief of the draft Electoral Code, gives his assessment of the further deterioration of the electoral system in Russia.

The invaders have not been consistent in governing the temporarily occupied territories. L/DPR militants ‘appoint’ nonames to nonexistent offices in some places. In others, there are talks of holding a pseudo-referendum, and PR campaigns are run elsewhere to an incorporation in the occupied Crimea. The ‘people’s republic’ format will not work this time. However, it is still worth preparing for a negative scenario.

The Russian authorities keep emasculating the institution of elections and modelling it after the Belarusian version. Notably, these changes do not match too well with the allegedly increased popular support for the Russian authorities against the backdrop of the war. Instead, it demonstrates a lack of confidence that the autumn elections will go smoothly.

The 'League of Voters' Foundation appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for an interim measure requiring the Russian authorities not to liquidate it pending the ECHR proceedings on its earlier complaint. Should the liquidation proceed, it would make all future legal activities of the Foundation impossible: the organization would be unable to rent office space, collect donations, will lose all of its property, and would be forced to cease its human rights and educational activities.

Stanislav Andreychuk on how the Kremlin is changing laws that regulate Russia’s polity and elections to maintain the status quo.