The farce of the Duma election

“Who if not you?” A poster in Moscow advertises the prospect of a reward of the equivalent of over 50,000 euros for the war effort, September 7th

Frontline fighters have been able to cast their votes since the end of August, the rest of the Russian population still has to wait a few weeks: the election for the lower house of parliament, the Duma, will take place in Russia from September 18th to 20th. The last elections to the Duma to date took place in 2021, before the full invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Despite ongoing war and violent drone attacks, the Russian leadership insists on repeating this election ritual, which is held every five years, to formally legitimize its rule. Parliaments will be elected in 39 regions at the same time, and gubernatorial elections will also be held in eight regions.

To speak of even remotely free elections would be pure mockery. The Russian presidential administration will, as in previous years, ensure that the end result is an election result that is acceptable to the Kremlin. It has a whole arsenal of suitable instruments at its disposal - from a compliant central election commission to the non-admission of critical candidates to a lack of independent election observation. Not to be forgotten: this time, digital voting is planned in over a third of the regions, which supplements conventional practices for manipulating election results in a form that is inherently incomprehensible from the outside. Incidentally, this year the state is saving on funds for conducting the election - the money is needed for expensive warfare. The parties have also significantly reduced their spending.

According to the Russian leadership, the elections should in no way serve as an opportunity to give space to the growing frustration in parts of society about the negative consequences of the war.

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