It is now completely clear that all Putin and the Kremlin need is turnout. They have already secured their 70%—that is obvious to them from even the most basic analysis of the lineup of candidates they themselves selected.
Any focus group is practically screaming: well, Putin is better than these people.
The task of securing the “victory” has already been solved, and until March 18 they will be focused only on getting people to the polling stations. They have even rolled out Patriarch Kirill (head of the Russian Orthodox Church)—he has set aside spiritual matters and is urging people to come vote. Closer to March, he will probably start excommunicating everyone who refuses to go.
Going to the polls now means solving Putin’s problems for him. It means helping him turn a reappointment into something resembling an election. There is no longer the slightest point in it.
Some candidates do have their own technical goals. For example, Yavlinsky and YABLOKO need to get 3% in order to regain state funding. If helping them with that matters to you, then go and vote.
For everyone else, the answer is a voter strike.
We refuse to call Putin’s reappointment an “election.”
We are not going to the polling stations.
We are persuading everyone around us not to go to the polling stations. We are campaigning with all our strength.
We are organizing election monitoring so they cannot falsify turnout.
On January 28, we are holding a nationwide action in support of the voter strike.
We do not want to wait another six years. We want competitive elections right now.
We are submitting preliminary applications for marches and rallies on January 28 right now. A full month in advance. So that no petty official can later tell us, “oh, the square is booked for a belly dancing competition.”
Watch this video and help spread it. Join the voter strike group and the January 28 action in your city.
Moscow: VKontakte https://vk.com/zabastovka_mos, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1186059384830811/
St. Petersburg: VKontakte https://vk.com/zabastovka_spb, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/274032506459050/
Arkhangelsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_arh
Astrakhan https://vk.com/zabastovka_astra
Barnaul https://vk.com/zabastovka_barnaul
Belgorod https://vk.com/zabastovka_blg
Berezniki https://vk.com/zabastovka_brz
Biysk https://vk.com/zabastovka_biysk
Bratsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_bratsk
Bryansk https://vk.com/zabastovka_brk
Velikiye Luki https://vk.com/zabastovka_vluki
Veliky Novgorod https://vk.com/zabastovka_vn
Vladivostok https://vk.com/zabastovka_vl
Vladimir https://vk.com/zabastovka_vladimir
Volgograd: VKontakte https://vk.com/zabastovka_vlg, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/176769743057057/
Vologda https://vk.com/zabastovka_vologda
Vorkuta https://vk.com/zabastovka_vrk
Voronezh https://vk.com/zabastovka_vrn
Vyksa https://vk.com/zabastovka_vyksa
Gorno-Altaysk https://vk.com/zabastovka_ga
Goryachy Klyuch https://vk.com/zabastovka_gk
Yeysk https://vk.com/zabastovka_eysk
Yekaterinburg https://vk.com/zabastovka_ek
Zhukovsky https://vk.com/zabastovka_zhu
Ivanovo https://vk.com/zabastovka_ivanovo
Izhevsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_iz
Irkutsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_irkutsk
Yoshkar-Ola https://vk.com/zabastovka_ola
Kazan https://vk.com/zabastovka_kzn
Kaliningrad https://vk.com/zabastovka_kld
Kalininsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_kln
Kaluga https://vk.com/zabastovka_klg
Kemerovo https://vk.com/zabastovka_kmr
Kirov https://vk.com/zabastovka_kir
Komsomolsk-on-Amur https://vk.com/zabastovka_kna
Korolyov https://vk.com/zabastovka_kor
Kostroma https://vk.com/zabastovka_kostroma
Krasnodar https://vk.com/zabastovka_krd
Krasnoyarsk: VKontakte https://vk.com/zabastovka_krsk, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/2009804449344919/
Kurgan https://vk.com/zabastovka_krg
Kursk https://vk.com/zabastovka_kur
Lipetsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_lip
Magadan https://vk.com/zabastovka_magadan
Magnitogorsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_mgn
Murmansk https://vk.com/zabastovka_mur
Mytishchi https://vk.com/zabastovka_myt
Nizhny Novgorod: VKontakte https://vk.com/zabastovka_nn, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/736808306502762/
Novokuznetsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_nvkz
Novosibirsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_nsk
Omsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_om
Oryol https://vk.com/zabastovka_eagle
Orenburg https://vk.com/zabastovka_orb
Orsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_orsk
Penza https://vk.com/zabastovka_pnz
Perm https://vk.com/zabastovka_perm
Petrozavodsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_ptz
Pskov https://vk.com/zabastovka_pskov
Rostov-on-Don https://vk.com/zabastovka_rnd
Ryazan https://vk.com/zabastovka_rz
Samara https://vk.com/zabastovka_samara
Saransk https://vk.com/zabastovka_saransk
Saratov https://vk.com/zabastovka_srtv
Smolensk https://vk.com/zabastovka_smol
Sochi https://vk.com/zabastovka_sochee
Stavropol https://vk.com/zabastovka_stv
Stary Oskol https://vk.com/zabastovka_osk
Syktyvkar https://vk.com/zabastovka_syk
Tambov https://vk.com/zabastovka_tmb
Tver https://vk.com/zabastovka_tver
Tolyatti https://vk.com/zabastovka_tgl
Tomsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_tomsk
Tosno https://vk.com/zabastovka_tosno
Tula https://vk.com/zabastovka_tu
Tyumen https://vk.com/zabastovka_tmn
Ulan-Ude https://vk.com/zabastovka_uu
Ulyanovsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_uln
Ufa: VKontakte https://vk.com/zabastovka_ufa, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/518871718482197/
Khabarovsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_khv
Cheboksary https://vk.com/zabastovka_cheb
Chelyabinsk: VKontakte https://vk.com/zabastovka_che, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1666471336749958/
Cherepovets https://vk.com/zabastovka_cherep
Chita https://vk.com/zabastovka_chi
Yakutsk https://vk.com/zabastovka_ykt
Yaroslavl https://vk.com/zabastovka_yar