海角大神

Oleg Mandrykin, who is running for a seat in the State Duma, Russia鈥檚 lower house of parliament, believes that even Russia鈥檚 opaque, Kremlin-managed electoral system can be made to work in the interests of Russian voters if people get out and participate.

鈥淟ittle by little, even small drops of water can wear down a stone,鈥� says Mr. Mandrykin. 鈥淲e do not need any more revolutions in this country. That leaves us only with gradual, democratic methods to bring about the changes we need. And we鈥檝e seen some small, local victories that suggest it can happen.鈥� That鈥檚 the optimistic side of the debate that breaks out whenever Russia holds an election, as it will be on Sept. 19 for the Duma and a multitude of regional and local legislatures.

Then he launches into the list of daunting obstacles he has faced, including official harassment because he is a candidate for the liberal opposition Yabloko party.

Russia officially declares itself to be a democracy. Russian media covers the campaigning almost like a horse race, much as the Western press covers elections. And just about everyone agrees that the elections do matter, though opinions differ over the reasons.

But while 14 parties, covering a wide spectrum from left to right, will be competing for seats in the Duma, opposition parties are carefully watched and managed by the Russian state. The gamut of 鈥渓oyal opposition鈥� parties is genuine, and much of the criticism expressed by them can be as biting as the differences between candidates in any Western democracy. But via electoral controls, individual pressure on candidates, or simple political 鈥渄irty tricks,鈥� the state keeps any party or candidate who becomes a significant threat to the ruling United Russia party from success at the polls.

Fred Weir

Oleg Mandrykin, a local real estate developer in Arkhangelsk, Russia, has been subject to attacks on his reputation by regional media over his campaign for the State Duma as a member of the liberal Yabloko party.

This year, United Russia seems to be in particular trouble at the polls, which experts say could reflect badly on President Vladimir Putin, whom the party lines up behind. And they warn that could mean the opposition parties will be victim to even more electoral trickery this election.

鈥淭here are signs that the Kremlin is very nervous about the outcome of these elections,鈥� says Masha Lipman, editor of Point & Counterpoint, a journal of Russian affairs published by George Washington University. 鈥淭he so-called menu of manipulations is much broader than in the past. Even though Putin鈥檚 rating remains high, perhaps because he is seen as the guarantor of stability, United Russia is no longer regarded as a force for good.鈥�

A controlled election

There are 450 Duma seats at stake in Sunday鈥檚 elections, half of which will be allotted by party line voting, the other half by 225 constituency races such as the one Mr. Mandrykin, a popular local environmental activist, is contesting in the Arctic region of Arkhangelsk. Six of the 14 parties competing 鈥� including the Communists, the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, and the social democratic Fair Russia party 鈥� got more than 5% of the vote聽in the polls five years ago, earning them seats in the Duma, so they expect at least to repeat their performance.

Proponents of the system say that it fulfills Russia鈥檚 need. 鈥淚 think the existing electoral system reflects adequately the voter鈥檚 will,鈥� says Viktor Kuznetsov, United Russia candidate in the central Russian region of Samara. The 14 parties running 鈥渁ctually represent the full spectrum of political forces in our society.鈥�

Ms. Lipman says the Kremlin wants to be assured of a parliamentary majority for United Russia, to quell any disquiet among Russia鈥檚 notoriously fractious elites about Mr. Putin鈥檚 grip on the country. Some opinion polls suggest that United Russia鈥檚 current support , far down from the 54% it won in 2016.

鈥淚n Russia, an election campaign is a referendum on the president,鈥� says Dmitry Oreshkin, an independent political observer. 鈥淚f the voters鈥� support is strong, it means they trust a strong Putin. If not, it means Putin looks weak.鈥�

In a show of just how important Russian elections can be, the Kremlin鈥檚 harshest critic, jailed anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, has urged his followers to go to the polls. But he has called upon them to practice 鈥溾��: concentrating votes behind any candidate from the approved 鈥渟ystemic opposition鈥� who seems likely to defeat the official United Russia entry. His supporters have compiled a list of over 1,000 such candidates to back. Ironically, the majority of those are , who stand to benefit most from the backing of Mr. Navalny鈥檚 youthful and liberal followers.

Tatyana Makeyeva/Reuters

Pavel Grudinin, a Russian entrepreneur and Communist Party candidate barred by electoral authorities from running in the upcoming parliamentary election, speaks during an interview at his office in the settlement of Sovkhoz Imeni Lenina outside Moscow, Sept. 13, 2021.

That鈥檚 where the limitations on Russian democracy begin to become clear. The main reason Mr. Navalny must resort to throwing his weight behind candidates who are, basically, differing shades of pro-Kremlin, is that he and his millions of followers have been labeled 鈥渆xtremists鈥� by the Russian government. They have been forced to disband their organizations and are banned from running in elections. Several other groups, mainly pro-Western liberals but also right-wing nationalists, have been similarly clipped from the permitted political spectrum.

鈥淔or those Russians who care about liberal ideas, democracy, and civil liberties, there are no candidates among the permitted parties running to represent them,鈥� says Ms. Lipman. 鈥淭he cutoff point for the Kremlin seems to be that nobody representing liberalism or Westernizing, modernizing ideas should be represented in the Duma.鈥�

Barred candidates and dirty tricks

In addition to landscaping the political garden to weed out ideological threats, the Central Election Commission also employs who are deemed insufficiently loyal or too popular. In the current election cycle, even the powerful Communist Party was compelled to drop聽Pavel Grudinin, one of its most appealing candidates and head of a prosperous collective farm near Moscow, after murky allegations were made about financial improprieties by his former wife.

Another sign of the Kremlin鈥檚 nervousness is the efforts by the state media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, to block Russian search engine Yandex of candidates.

Most experts say that actual vote-counting and polling station procedures on election day have been greatly cleaned up since obvious official voter fraud in the 2011 Duma elections triggered mass protests. But campaigning has been marked by dirty tricks, which critics insist are instigated by United Russia. They say the party uses its vast resources to manipulate the ballot, often employing smaller parties as its agents to make things difficult for strong Communist or Yabloko candidates. A pandemic-era ban on public meetings has made most open campaigning, formerly permitted, almost impossible for candidates from smaller parties.

A good example of dirty tricks is 鈥渄oubling,鈥� or getting a small party to run someone with the same name as a popular challenger. In St. Petersburg, two 鈥淏oris Vishnevsky鈥� ballot entries, the result of two recent name changes accepted by the electoral authorities, suddenly appeared to run against the veteran Yabloko candidate Boris Vishnevsky.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember this kind of tactic being used before,鈥� says Mr. Vishnevsky. 鈥淚 was expecting more traditional methods to be used against me, like criminal charges or house arrest. Instead, these two guys, whose names were Shmelyov and Bykov until recently, are put on the ballot to confuse voters and take votes away from the dangerous candidate. It just means we have to try harder.鈥�

Mr. Mandrykin, who was interviewed by the Monitor in late August, got a taste of poisoned media coverage when a local news agency, Ekho Severa, published what appear to be surveillance photos of the meeting, under the headline 鈥溾�� along with the suggestion 鈥� obvious but not explicit 鈥� that he discussed funding with a 鈥渇oreign emissary.鈥�

Reached for commentary, Ekho Severa Editor Ilya Azovskiy insists, 鈥淭he word 鈥榚missary鈥� doesn鈥檛 have any negative meaning. Fred Weir, as a foreign journalist, is an emissary of a foreign state. We didn鈥檛 write directly that he financed Oleg Mandrykin鈥檚 campaign. ... I am sure that if I called up 海角大神, they wouldn鈥檛 explain their editorial policy. So why should I?鈥� (Editor鈥檚 note: Mark Sappenfield, the editor of 海角大神, says, 鈥淭he Monitor鈥檚 editorial policy is a matter of public record and a point of pride. We are eager to discuss it with anyone who has a genuine interest.鈥�)

Given all that he鈥檚 had to go through, it might be hard to explain why Mr. Mandrykin even wants to run for the Duma.

鈥淎n elected deputy has the right to take the podium and to say what he thinks needs to be put on the record,鈥� he says. 鈥淗e or she has the right to meet with officials, ask questions, have input into the budget. Also the right to have 40 assistants, with a local office, and the right to meet with constituents, gather information, and respond to demands. If I get the chance, I will use these rights and make it matter.鈥�