Russia's regional vote: What's left of democracy?

The results of last weekend's election in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories could be seen as a show of strength for the Kremlin and the United Russia party. Despite the war and the Western sanctions, the ruling United Russia party won every race for provincial governors it contested. The party, a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also claimed at least 70% of the vote in occupied regions of Ukraine, which the Kremlin claims to be Russian territory. In the Russian capital Moscow, incumbent mayor and Vladimir Putin ally Sergei Sobyanin won over 76% of the vote.

The results "most vividly confirmed the absolute consolidation of society around the country's leadership," claimed Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

But many in and outside Russia remain unimpressed. They say the Kremlin skewed the vote's outcome by excluding opposition candidates, obstructing the work of election observers, and influencing the electoral process.

'It's an insane situation'

Independent election watchdog Golos told DW that it had received around 1,100 reports of irregularities, which included issues with Russia's notorious online voting system. In at least one instance, according to the watchdog's co-chair Stanislav Andreychuk, opposition election observers were given military draft papers.

Andreychuk also decried the use of violence against candidates, election observers, reporters and voters. "The police took part in it," he told DW. "An observer or a reporter complains there is ballot stuffing [...] or some other violation at the polling station — then the police detain him on request of the head of the same commission he was complaining about. It's an insane situation."

No freedom means no free election

Andreychuk also decried the tampering of the vote by officials, including in Moscow, and said they were becoming much more brazen, "because they understand that, in general, there will be no consequences, no sanctions, unless they are very very unlucky."

The Golos representative pointed out issues with Russia's electronic voting, describing the system as a "black box" delivering results that are impossible to verify. He said that a breakdown of the system in some Moscow polling stations had presented electoral officials with discrepancies between the number of ballots issued and those received, leading them to "simply forge" protocols and adjust figures.

While the head of the country's electoral commission Ella Pamfilova claimed that the campaign had been "dignified and clean," Andreychuk said that the environment in Russia did not allow for free elections: "We have no freedom of assembly, no freedom of association, freedom of speech, the candidates are being barred, arrested and so on. In this situation, there can simply be no democratic elections," he told DW.

Germany slams 'sham elections' under Russian occupation

The German government also criticized the election, saying it was "neither free or fair."

"The Russian regime has systematically dismantled freedom of speech, press and assembly, in recent years, step by step, and even more so since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion," German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said

"Public space in Russia is dominated by censorship, propaganda and misinformation, and many of the candidates who  criticized government policy or even the Ukraine invasion were not allowed to take part in the election," he said in response to a question by DW.

The official also dismissed the vote in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine outright, saying Berlin would never recognize the "sham elections" on Ukrainian soil.

'Systemic opposition' barred from criticizing the government

For political scientist Nikolai Petrov, a guest researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, there are still lessons to be learned from the latest vote. He told DW that "systemic opposition" parties, such as A Just Russia and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, had lost support. These parties are not officially in power, but they still largely support President Vladimir Putin and his foreign policy.

As Putin has clamped down on dissent, these parties have "lost their significance in the eyes of a large part of the voters because they are forbidden from criticizing the Kremlin in any way."

"And if they come out with the same slogans that the Kremlin comes up with, then the question arises, why is such opposition needed?"

But Petrov also pointed out that the United Russia party had faced a setback against the Communist Party in the Siberian region of Khakassia, where the 35-year-old governor Valentin Konovalov was able to secure reelection despite a Kremlin campaign against him. His rival, a United Russia candidate, had stepped down at the last minute, citing health concerns, and thus allowed the Kremlin to save face, according to Petrov.

He told DW that the government's strategy had apparently been to "avoid scandals in every possible way" and discreetly sound out the mood of its citizens ahead of next year's election.

Putin expected to run again

Putin, who is almost 71 years old, is widely expected to run for another term and use his current grip on power to ensure another six years as president. 

He first became president in 2000 and served two consecutive four-year terms before he was succeeded by Dmitry Medvedev. He held onto power, however, as prime minister and the rules on term limits were quickly changed to allow him to run as president again in 2012.  A controversial constitutional reform in 2020 "reset" the term limits — allowing him to potentially stay in power until 2036.

Vladimir Putin is already the second-longest serving Kremlin chief since Joseph Stalin, who ruled the former Soviet Union for three decades.

Mikhail Bushuev conducted the interviews for this article. 

Edited by: Anne Thomas