Today I’ll finally get to see my brother — it’ll be a long visit. All means of communication are taken away in the penal colony, so I’m writing about the voting day that just passed while on the road, at the decidedly unpopular five in the morning Moscow time.
As I’ve said many times, the main mechanism behind the authorities’ electoral “victories” is not even outright fraud, but keeping candidates off the ballot.
As soon as everyone is allowed to take part in an election, the political situation changes immediately: this whole “Putin majority” falls apart, and all that’s left is a tattered blanket. It’s important to remember that and not let anyone fill your head with nonsense like, “Oh well, the whole country is for the authorities anyway, we’re in the minority.”
That, essentially, is how Luzhkov controlled district councils for many years (and before that, the “advisers”): he had everyone removed from the ballot. The latest municipal elections in St. Petersburg were exactly about that too — all the independents were pushed out, and that was the only way to secure a United Russia majority.
But in Moscow they tried to “win fair and square,” relying on state-sector employees and low turnout, and the voters smacked them down. Very good. Excellent, in fact.
My congratulations to everyone who became deputies in the Moscow elections, and to their teams and volunteers. These victories were well earned.
Special congratulations to Ilya Yashin. He wasn’t afraid to make the campaign political. He openly ran a slate from the Solidarity movement (to be honest, even I had my doubts for a moment). He was basically fighting on all fronts — against the authorities, against United Russia, and, sadly, against the Yabloko party, which made it its mission to keep him from being elected and put spoiler candidates up against him.
He worked 24/7, and it paid off. He himself took first place by a huge margin. His team won a majority in the council. United Russia was crushed.
Borya Nemtsov would have been happy now. So let us be happy for him.
Yankauskas, together with his fierce Zyuzino people, fought like an animal and won a majority. And this is a very ordinary district — not some “elite city center.” More broadly, a lot of great people became deputies, according to the preliminary results. I hope that by the time I get online this evening, there will be even more of them.
Those who won outside Moscow deserve loud applause too. The wildest story is the team of libertarians (!!), who beat United Russia in the Moscow region. Incredible.
To everyone who didn’t make it — in Moscow and elsewhere — don’t be discouraged. This is all just one episode in a larger struggle. Your efforts will not go to waste.
Sending support to everyone who was “defeated” specifically by being kept off the ballot (see point 1). That is always the worst situation.
I have no doubt that Yevgeny Roizman would have become governor of Sverdlovsk Region.
Sergey Boyko, who was removed from the ballot using the “darya_timurovich” scheme, would have been elected in Novosibirsk. In that district, United Russia really did get routed. Its candidate, who poured millions into the campaign, barely managed to come in third. A Communist candidate won on the protest vote.
There are many such cases, unfortunately.
In short, doing something is better than doing nothing. Any political action produces results and makes a contribution: a like, a share, a leaflet, going out to a rally, or taking part in an election. Do something, and it changes the atmosphere. Nothing is predetermined, and there is no reason for despair.
People can clearly see that the Kremlin King has no clothes.