Russians vote in Putin's tailor-made election

Political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin used an unexpected metaphor to describe what’s at stake in Russia’s March 15-17 presidential election: “It’s reminiscent of the parades of athletes in immaculate suits marching past Stalin on Moscow’s Red Square,” he said. “There are thousands of them, but if just one holds the leader’s portrait askew, the sanctity of the event is tainted.”
Oreshkin here describes something bigger than a democratic exercise to designate or legitimize those in power; elections in Russia are more than ever simply a symbolic ritual, a moment of collective celebration. For Vladimir Putin, who has been in power since 2000 and is running for a new term that should take him through to 2030, it’s a show of strength.
Oreshkin, who was a senior official of the country’s Central Election Commission between 1995 and 2007 and who now lives in exile in Europe, used the metaphor because it applies equally to candidates and voters. All are summoned to march in line.
Yekaterina Duntsova and Boris Nadezhdin, two anti-war candidates who had aroused a wave of enthusiasm, were eliminated from the electoral race after “errors” were found in their paperwork, according to the Central Election Commission. Of those who were allowed to run – the nationalist Leonid Slutsky, the communist Nikolay Kharitonov and the businessman Vladislav Davankov, expected to capture some of the liberal vote – not one candidate pretended to want to compete with Putin, nor voiced the slightest criticism of his policies.
“Even if these candidates are perfectly loyal, the mere possibility of a protest vote is unacceptable,” said Oreshkin. “They cannot obtain a score exceeding 10%.” The political scientist recalled the precedent set by Pavel Grudinin, the Communist Party’s candidate in the 2018 presidential election, who, after a flamboyant campaign, secured almost 12% of the vote. In the wake of the election, Grudinin lost his shares in a major agricultural firm, was disqualified from running in local elections and eventually disappeared from public life.
The only question surrounding the 2024 presidential election is whether the incumbent, Putin, will obtain a score above or below 80%. The figure was already cited in the fall of 2023 by the online news website Meduza as a target set for Kremlin strategists. It is also the number used by almost all observers, who note that the score given to Putin can only be higher than that of 2018 when he obtained 77.53% of the vote.
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