At the weekend, the Russians will elect a new parliament, the Duma. The Kremlin critics are already warning against manipulation of the elections in favor of the United Russia party, which is behind President Vladimir Putin (68). Ivan Zhdanov, a confidante of the imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny (45), says that he is expecting a “colossal fraud”.
Janis Kluge (38), who knows Russia at the Science and Politics Foundation in Berlin, estimates that there will be around ten million fake votes with around 90 million eligible voters. Election fraud would not only be carried out in Moscow, but pressure would also be put on regional governors and authorities.
For example, a leaked telephone recording shows how a high-ranking official from the Moscow satellite city Korolev instructs her people to secure a 42 to 45 percent result for the Kremlin party, United Russia. Since everything has to “look clean”, “only our people” are allowed to monitor the polls as election observers.
These are the tricks
Exclusion: Virtually all opposition-related candidates were excluded from the election. Nawalny’s groups were declared extremist organizations and thus equated with IS.
Special payment: Shortly before the elections, Putin ordered a special payment for around 1.7 million civil servants. Sure, for whom they will vote.
Holiday season: The elections will not take place in December, as in the past, but in September. Then most of the people are still on vacation and don’t think about politics.
Bait: United Russia’s core voters are encouraged to vote for the right party with gifts or sums of money ranging from 100 to 150 euros.
Without control: The elections last from September 17th to 19th. Nobody controls what happens to the contents of the ballot boxes at night. According to Janis Kluge, video surveillance has been reduced, there are no recordings.
Online manipulation: For the first time there is the possibility to vote online what is advertised with big profits like apartments and cars. Oppositionists assume that votes cast electronically are easier to forge.
Blocking: Navalny’s “Smart Vote” website has been blocked. She had supported users in choosing those candidates who had the best chance of winning against “United Russia”. The authorities had previously forbidden the Internet search engines Google and Yandex from displaying the term “Smart Voting” in search results.
Prevention: The Russian authorities have severely restricted working conditions for election observers and only allowed 60 people to enter the country. The Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) is therefore not deploying.
Pressure: Many state-owned employers exert pressure on their employees or even drive them to the ballot boxes in their own buses.
Many don’t even vote
According to Janis Kluge, voter turnout will be low. Not only because many voters are still on vacation, but also because the Russians are not interested in it at all. Because they know: Nothing will change anyway.
For Kluge, as he said at an online lecture by the German Union Foundation, it is also clear: “Putin’s party will win the elections. On the one hand there is great loyalty to his system, on the other hand he does not allow any alternatives. “
President Putin himself is not a member of the United Russia party. He will not be elected on the weekend either, the next presidential election will take place in 2024.