In just two days, on September 17, critically important elections to Russia’s State Duma will begin.
They matter because United Russia will try to stay in power for another five years. If its candidates succeed, our country faces five more years of poverty, five years of daily repression, five lost years.
But we have hope, and we have a tool to stop it. Smart Voting is Alexei Navalny’s main political project. It is a way to defeat United Russia candidates in elections even despite all the fraud they are certain to stage. Through Smart Voting, voters unite behind the strongest challenger to the United Russia candidate — helping that challenger win.
In 2019, with the help of Smart Voting, we defeated United Russia in Moscow in 20 out of 45 districts. Full victory across all districts was just 50,000 votes away.
In 2020, Smart Voting helped elect independent deputies in Tomsk and Novosibirsk. In the Tambov City Duma, our candidates won 17 out of 18 seats. It became clear: our strategy works.
Of course, the Kremlin is trying to fight it. There have been hundreds of meetings inside Putin’s administration about what to use against Smart Voting. Putin ordered the blocking of the Smart Voting website and any mention of it, including in search engines. On his orders, fake websites and videos are being created. Because of this, the internet is breaking down, and World of Tanks and Avito stop working.
But if you are reading this post, it means Putin has failed, and you will still get Smart Voting’s recommendations. Here we tell you about the candidates running against some of the most vile United Russia politicians — the ones it is especially important to defeat.
Moscow, District 197
Vote for Mikhail Sergeyevich Lobanov.
His opponent in the Kuntsevo district from United Russia is the well-known propagandist Yevgeny Popov, host of the vile hate show 60 Minutes. He turns live broadcasts into a circus, constantly lies, and manipulates viewers. And he makes a great deal of money doing it — together with his wife, he has bought up elite real estate worth 300 million rubles (about $4 million at the time). There is no doubt that Yevgeny Popov would be one of United Russia’s most loyal deputies and would support any inhumane law, just as he already supported raising the retirement age. Unless we stop him.
Moscow, District 198
Vote for Anastasia Andreyevna Bryukhanova.
Her opponent, Galina Khovanskaya, is running in Moscow for A Just Russia. No one here would vote for a United Russia candidate, so the authorities struck a deal with Khovanskaya, who is friendly with officials in the Moscow mayor’s office. Galina Khovanskaya has been sitting in the State Duma since 2003. And in all that time, the most notable thing she has done was, for some reason, declare war on hostels. Last year, she also supported the constitutional amendments. Let’s show Sobyanin that we are not so easily fooled, and vote against Khovanskaya — vote for Anastasia Bryukhanova.
Moscow, District 204
Vote for Sergei Borisovich Kurgansky.
The situation here is the same: a United Russia candidate would never win in this district, so the authorities put forward a so-called civic activist — Tatyana Butskaya, head of the Council of Mothers. She too pretends to be in opposition and urges people in her leaflets to “take what is yours from the state.” But in reality, she just wants to become a deputy in order to serve that very state. Let’s stop her in this election.
Moscow, District 202
Vote for Danil Pavlovich Makhnitsky.
In this district, the authorities’ candidate is Dmitry Sablin. He has been sitting in the Duma for 18 years. In that time, he has stolen enough for a mansion on Rublyovka (an elite suburb outside Moscow), and last year he ranked 18th on the list of the richest officials. Sablin seized the Lenin State Farm, which belonged to Pavel Grudinin. He bought a yacht worth nearly 1 billion rubles (about $13.5 million at the time) and failed to declare it, then managed to get the media outlet that published the investigation blocked. We must throw this thief and liar out of the State Duma.
Moscow, Eastern Administrative Okrug, District 205
Vote for Sergei Pavlovich Obukhov.
In this district, the mayor’s office is simply mocking voters. Muscovites are not going to vote for United Russia candidates — every poll says so. But what if they put forward a candidate people might vote for as a joke — the amusing man with dozens of pockets on his vest, Anatoly Wasserman? Then he wins, gets into the State Duma, and either just presses the button when told to, or does not even show up for sessions at all. Great plan. Incidentally, Wasserman’s campaign is headed by Andrei Maksimov, a former United Russia member who ran the party’s agitation department and previously worked as a political strategist for the Moscow mayor’s office. The Kremlin is not even hiding whom it supports in this district. Candidate Anatoly Wasserman is an insult to Muscovites. Do not let him into the State Duma.
Moscow, Central Administrative Okrug, District 208
Vote for Sergei Sergeyevich Mitrokhin.
Here, the mayor’s office put forward Oleg Leonov, coordinator of the Liza Alert search-and-rescue team. This is the most protest-minded district in the capital, and a United Russia candidate would definitely lose here. So Leonov is posing as an independent — hiding his ties to United Russia, the mayor’s office, and the presidential administration. But when Lyubov Sobol asked Leonov about Vladimir Putin and Volodin’s corruption during an online meeting with voters, the candidate failed to give a concrete answer to a single question, only repeating that he knew nothing and that people should look at the documents. Leonov’s campaign was financed by structures close to United Russia. And we found his leaflets in the United Russia campaign headquarters. Do not let the Kremlin fool you — vote smart.
St. Petersburg, District 218
Vote for Boris Ivanovich Oreshkov.
In this district, United Russia is backing Vitaly Milonov, who has been in power for more than ten years — and in all that time has not proposed a single useful thing. He has proposed banning photography in the metro, the teaching of Darwin’s theory, and the use of social media without a passport. He has proposed banning abortion and MTV. Chinese goods and cheap barbecue grills. Perhaps the only thing he has proposed not to ban, but to do, was to name a street in St. Petersburg after Kadyrov (Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed head of Chechnya). Vitaly Milonov is a disgrace to our country. People like him should not govern us or decide how we should live.
Sverdlovsk Region, District 168
Vote for Vladislav Vladimirovich Postnikov.
The main villain in this district is Andrei Alshevskikh. He is a fellow native of Yekaterinburg, like Leonid Volkov, and they have known each other for a long time. In 2010, they defended direct mayoral elections together. And in 2011, Alshevskikh, then a member of the Communist Party, even took part in opposition rallies for fair elections. There is footage of Leonid and Alexei Navalny standing on the same stage with Alshevskikh. But in 2016, Alshevskikh joined United Russia and was elected to the State Duma. He went on to author some of the vilest laws: against free speech, against the opposition, and in favor of raising the retirement age. He also authored the “law against the ACF” (Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation), which stripped anyone even loosely connected to Alexei Navalny of the right to run for office.
Novosibirsk, District 136
Vote for Renat Ismailovich Suleymanov.
Here we need to defeat another author of the “law against the ACF” — Dmitry Savelyev. He, too, used to be in the opposition — in the LDPR — and then suddenly became a United Russia politician this spring. In effect, he betrayed his voters for a comfortable place in power. People like that should not be in the State Duma. Especially since he has spent all these years in a deputy’s chair doing little else.
Novosibirsk, District 135
Vote for Igor Sergeyevich Ukraintsev.
Running against him is the dishonest official and former health minister Oleg Ivaninsky, who wrecked healthcare in the region. In his campaign, he pretends to be just a doctor and hides his ties to United Russia. Don’t fall for it. Vote smart.
Kamchatka Krai, District 45
Vote for Valery Yuryevich Kalashnikov.
He is running against Irina Yarovaya — one of the best-known, most vile, and most harmful United Russia politicians, who has been sitting in the State Duma for 14 years writing some of the most repressive laws. You have definitely heard of one of them — the Yarovaya package. Under it, all your phone calls and correspondence are now accessible to the security services, and you are the one paying for the storage of that data. Like all United Russia politicians, Yarovaya loves luxury. She lives in a $3 million apartment in an elite residential complex and wears earrings worth $5,000 and $15,000 while her voters live in extreme poverty.
Khabarovsk, gubernatorial election
On September 19, Khabarovsk residents are choosing a governor. Here it is very simple: vote for anyone except Mikhail Degtyarev. Degtyarev was nominated by the LDPR, but he is Putin’s candidate. It was Putin who sent him to Khabarovsk Krai to deceive Khabarovsk residents and make them stop protesting. Of course, no one fell for that trick. United Russia did not put forward a rival to Degtyarev in this election because he is the ruling party’s candidate. We need to vote for anyone but him!
Saratov Region, District 163
Vote for Alexander Yuryevich Anidalov.
Running in this district is the top United Russia figure in the State Duma — Vyacheslav Volodin. United Russia is unpopular in Saratov too, so Volodin has to work hard on his public image. He spends 1.5 million rubles from the budget on every flight to Saratov (about $20,000 at the time), where he ostentatiously scolds local officials on camera and offers wise advice — which is almost always to build yet another playground. Volodin presents himself as a benefactor, but in reality he is simply wasting public money to boost his ratings. He deceives and robs the people of Saratov. A person like that has no place in the State Duma.
Khabarovsk Krai, District 69
Vote for Pyotr Vladimirovich Perevezentsev.
His rival — United Russia deputy Boris Gladkikh — is known to many people in Khabarovsk by the nickname Borya the Vacuum, because he once sold Kirby vacuum cleaners. But he makes his real money from the municipal company Housing and Utilities Group, to which all the city’s property management companies are obliged to pay tribute. In 2020, when residents took to the streets in support of the arrested governor Sergei Furgal, Gladkikh said the case had nothing to do with politics. Let’s make sure in this election that Gladkikh himself never has anything to do with politics again.
Khabarovsk Krai, District 70
Vote for Anton Sergeyevich Plyusnin.
He is running against Pavel Simigin — a United Russia politician every bit as pointless as Gladkikh. Simigin even got onto his party’s general council through a bribe. And when that became public, he started threatening everyone with lawsuits, but it went no further than words. Last year, Simigin caused a traffic accident in which people were injured. Although eyewitnesses said he was at fault, Simigin immediately began making excuses and listed himself as unemployed in the accident report. He was never punished for the crash that injured people.
Kirov Region, District 106
Vote for Nadezhda Vasilyevna Surayeva.
She must defeat Oleg Valenchuk — a State Duma deputy who has been sitting there for 14 years. He has been called one of the least effective deputies in parliament. Journalists calculated that from 2011 to 2013, he spoke in the State Duma only six times. Not bad for a deputy’s salary. Valenchuk is also an oligarch who transferred all his property to his wife. His family owns local TV channels, a newspaper, and even grocery stores. We do not need crooks in the State Duma — let’s defeat Valenchuk in this election!
Mari El, District 22
Vote for Sergei Ivanovich Kazankov.
He is the main rival to Vladimir Kozhanov, who, although running as an independent, has made his attitude toward power very clear. He said that power comes “from God” and called on Russians to bow before their superiors. A person who urges people to bow before their bosses has no business running for the State Duma. He needs a doctor, not a deputy’s seat.
You can find the full list of Smart Voting candidates for the State Duma elections in every district at this link. The Russian authorities did everything they could to keep these recommendations from reaching you, but together we did a little more. This is our first victory in this election.
Now comes the most important part: download the Navalny app (for iOS and Android) or use our Telegram bot and enter your address. You will find recommendations there on whom to vote for at your polling station. This year, we are giving more than 1,200 recommendations for elections at different levels, including regional legislative assemblies and city councils.
Millions of people across the country hate United Russia. United Russia means rising taxes and a higher retirement age. It means poverty and decline. It means endless Putin. So explain to everyone who is unhappy with what is happening in the country that they need to go to the polls and vote. Send Smart Voting recommendations to your friends and relatives. Share the candidates in parents’ chats and neighborhood chats. Explain how to vote smart.
Putin and Ella Pamfilova can steal one vote, falsify results at one polling station. But they will be able to do nothing if, on September 19, all opponents of United Russia get up and go to their polling stations. Vote smart, and together we will break United Russia’s monopoly.