I saw a Facebook post by Andrei Malgin. Here it is:
By and large, I don’t think that in 2019 it still makes sense to debate whether members of the intelligentsia can vote for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) as a protest party. That question was settled long ago by the intelligentsia itself. Just look at the voting results in any Akademgorodok (a Soviet-era research and academic hub) in the country. Or in Moscow’s Gagarinsky District. Both the physicists and the poets have long understood: there are no real elections, but if you want to give the authorities the finger, vote for the biggest of the systemic opposition parties. Yes, they’re obedient, but they still make the system writhe (for example, the elections in Primorye).
Sure, they often sell out and switch sides after elections. But there are even more turncoats among those who call themselves democrats. Yarovaya, Mizulina. Even Ella Pamfilova herself.
Even so, I value Malgin’s opinion, though I don’t know him personally. I read him, and I want once again to address both him and the many good people who keep falling into the simple trap set by the presidential administration.
Dear Andrei, and everyone else: why, your post was practically in the plan itself. In the roadmap drawn up by Kiriyenko and Sergunina.
Given: Malgin, a protest voter.
Problem: "Smart Voting", which consolidates the votes of people like Malgin.
Objective: get United Russia candidates Metelsky, Shaposhnikov, and the rest elected as deputies.
Requirement: Malgin must stay home.
Solution: kick everyone the hell off the ballot, leave only the Communists and a couple of other systemic candidates. Malgin will look at that list, curse, denounce “Smart Voting,” and stay on the beach. Or on the couch.
Just look at the full list of candidates running in the Moscow City Duma election.
It’s obvious to anyone that the main way to knock out United Russia candidates here is with Communist candidates. There are district-by-district nuances, but in most cases that’s how it is.
There’s simply no one else. If you’re in Novosibirsk, congratulations: you have an excellent candidate, Boyko, who is running precisely against the KPRF–United Russia alliance.
But if you’re in Moscow, no. They removed everyone.
So I suggest looking at the essence of it. On September 8, this won’t be an election, but a referendum.
For this referendum, Putin, Sobyanin, Kiriyenko, and Sergunina have posed the following question: do you trust the United Russia party to occupy 90% of the seats in your parliament for another five years?
"Smart Voting" is the only way to vote “no” in this referendum.
All other methods—from a boycott to spoiling ballots—have already been built in as mechanisms that help United Russia.
Elections from which our legitimate candidates have been barred will always be unpleasant. But even such elections can be used to strike a blow against the authorities. Not all of them, but this one can.
If Moscow answers “NO” in this referendum, it will be a very strong and painful blow to the authorities. The capital will have publicly withdrawn its trust.
Going to this referendum with your “NO” is the most moral, the most correct thing to do.
We need to persuade 7–10% of Muscovites to join "Smart Voting". It’s realistic, but it will require everyone’s help. Yours too, Andrei.