If there is anything important about these “elections,” it is only what you are about to read below.
You and I already understand perfectly well that on the evening of March 18, Putin will announce his re-election with a result of no less than 75%. Every poll already shows this; you can look at ours.
This will happen not because Putin is wildly popular, but because this is not an election at all—it is a re-election. The entire script has been approved in advance, and the designated candidates were selected through research, interviews, and casting.
In theory, the rival candidates could still take steps to bring Putin’s approval rating down. But honestly ask yourself this: now, one month before the election, do you see any large-scale campaigning by the candidates aimed at lowering Putin’s numbers?
Better yet: name three campaign actions by any of the candidates that have stuck in your mind recently. Or even ones that did not—anything you may have heard or read about somewhere.
You will not remember anything, because there is nothing to remember. That is the Putin administration’s plan, and they are in full control of it.
There is only one thing they do not control, but we can: voter turnout.
This is the campaign’s only vulnerable point. A result of 75%+ for Putin is guaranteed, and that no longer worries him. But what does worry him greatly is being able to declare after the vote: the overwhelming majority of Russian citizens trust these elections and came to the polling stations to vote.
That is exactly why the entire state machine is now focused on delivering 70% turnout. You can see examples of this everywhere.
If turnout does not materialize, Putin’s plan falls apart. They have staged a performance. Hired actors. Stocked the snack bar with sandwiches. Brought in coat-check attendants. And then the audience simply does not show up.
The authorities understand this. So what will be the main tool for boosting turnout? Exactly: fraud.
Pamfilova can say a hundred thousand times that she wants an honest count. But we know for certain—they are preparing falsifications. Not a single nationwide election in Russia has taken place without them.
And at the very moment they start cheating, we want you to be there beside us, catching the crooks red-handed.
Watch the video about the voter strike’s main project. For the first time in history, we will try to staff a significant number of polling stations across the country with observers.
We cannot do this without you, so head here right away.
We can do this. The campaign headquarters is there, and it knows how to work. The people are there. We will raise the money.
We conducted special drills. You can read about them in detail here. They took place in Tatarstan (a federal subject of Russia), where turnout of 82.99% was fabricated in the last presidential election.
There were local referendums there recently, and we selected several polling stations and covered them with observers.
The result was fantastic.
Polling stations without observers had an average turnout of 66%. The referendums were declared valid.
Polling stations with our observers had an average turnout of 19% (and in some places, 11%). The referendums were declared invalid.
In 2018, falsifications will happen all across the country. The Kremlin has set governors a target of 70% turnout. And anyone who fails to deliver 70% will get smacked for it. But people understand that this is not an election, it is a fake—and they do not want to go vote. So what is a governor supposed to do? Only one thing: fabricate the numbers. And that is exactly what they will do.
And we will catch them. Join us—it will be fun.