Oct. 14 will see local elections in over 4,000 Russian towns ­ and five regions will elect governors for the first time since direct gubernatorial elections were reintroduced. Opposition leaders plan on creating coalitions ahead of the elections, but experts point to recent elections, such as the one in Kasimov, the Ryazan region, as proof that the campaign may generate more publicity than progress.

One of the biggest battles will be fought for the post of the mayor of Kaliningrad, Russia's western exclave ­ and a place where the ruling United Russia party received only 25 percent of the vote in the Dec. 4, 2011 Duma elections. Communists and Just Russia, which polled a total of 45 percent on Dec. 4 in Kaliningrad, hope to use this situation to nominate a single candidate.

Last week, the two opposition parties announced that one candidate would represent them both ­ ostensibly picking Yury Galanin, a Communist. Yet Mikhail Yemelyanov, in charge of regional campaigns in Just Russia, told The Moscow News that consultations are still underway.

"We are open to coalitions with everyone except United Russia," Yemelyanov said, noting that the ambitions of different opposition factions are a major hindrance to defeating the ruling party.

Independent political analyst and election expert Dmitry Oreshkin thinks the Communists and Just Russia are misreading their electorate. "Galanin is old and insipid ­ and Kaliningrad is a liberal, European city, where there is more freedom and less government control," Oreshkin said.

Liberals are also expected to team up in Kaliningrad. Vladimir Ryzhkov, the co-chairman of the Republican Party of Russia ­ People's Freedom Party (known as RPR-Parnas), which is itself a coalition, told The Moscow News that his party would support Yabloko in Kaliningrad. RPR-Parnas will participate in various regional elections in October and is also holding talks with other political factions in order to join forces.

Oreshkin is not optimistic about the opposition's chances, however, noting that the local authorities will ultimately stand in their path. "The only advantage the opposition can achieve through this campaign is gaining experience, publicity and stepping up pressure on the authorities," he said.

The federal government is likely to do its bit to secure victories for United Russia in October. Already the deputy head of the Central Elections Commission, Leonid Ivlev, has stated that legislation on election monitors should be toughened.

Commenting on the results of the July 22 elections of a legislature in Kasimov, a small town some 250 kilometers away from Moscow, Ivlev said that "many of the monitors... behaved in a very aggressive manner, interfering in vote counting."

The elections in Kasimov sparked nationwide interest after local authorities decided to hold early elections, while United Russia's chief ideologist, Alexei Chesnakov, announced his run for a seat in the Kasimov legislature since "a real politician should start a career at the grassroots level." Experts saw it as an opportunity for him to be appointed to the Federation Council as a senator from the Ryazan region ­ something Chesnakov did not deny.

Kasimov fraud ignored?

"The authorities took advantage of this opportunity and sent Molodaya Gvardiya [a pro-Kremlin youth group], members of 'For Clean Elections' [a pro-Kremlin association of monitors] and others, but they did not register any violations," Golos, the independent election watchdog, stated in its report following the Kasimov elections. "The number of violations registered by independent monitors was critical for a town with a population of 30,000 people."

United Russia polled 50 percent in Kasimov. "Everyone went out of his way to secure the right results for United Russia as Alexei Chesnakov was running there," election expert Oreshkin said. "The real result must have been somewhere between 40 and 45 percent."

Just Russia was taken out of the Kasimov race over a technicality. "If it had been in the race, the Communists would have polled less ­ and United Russia [would have polled] much less," Oreshkin said.

Another barrier for the opposition is the so-called municipal filter. In the process of liberalizing Russia's election laws, it was nevertheless proposed that one should collect the signatures of 5 to 10 percent (depending on the region) of municipal deputies or mayors to register. And one official can put his or her signature for one candidate only.

Last week, the Communist nominee for Novgorod region governor, Olga Yefimova, published an open letter to President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, describing how such filters work.

Eighty percent of deputies put their signatures for incumbent Governor Sergei Mitin, while 10 percent would have been enough for him. Yefimova needs at least 38 signatures to register. She had solicited the support of over 40 deputies, but after local authorities exerted pressure on them, she said, only 15 people reiterated their support.

"People don't understand why you abolished the practice of appointing governors," Yefimova wrote bitterly. "You could at least have saved millions for local budgets."

Keywords: Russia, Election Fraud, Politics - Russian News - Russia - Johnson's Russia List

Oct. 14 will see local elections in over 4,000 Russian towns ­ and five regions will elect governors for the first time since direct gubernatorial elections were reintroduced. Opposition leaders plan on creating coalitions ahead of the elections, but experts point to recent elections, such as the one in Kasimov, the Ryazan region, as proof that the campaign may generate more publicity than progress.

One of the biggest battles will be fought for the post of the mayor of Kaliningrad, Russia's western exclave ­ and a place where the ruling United Russia party received only 25 percent of the vote in the Dec. 4, 2011 Duma elections. Communists and Just Russia, which polled a total of 45 percent on Dec. 4 in Kaliningrad, hope to use this situation to nominate a single candidate.

Last week, the two opposition parties announced that one candidate would represent them both ­ ostensibly picking Yury Galanin, a Communist. Yet Mikhail Yemelyanov, in charge of regional campaigns in Just Russia, told The Moscow News that consultations are still underway.

"We are open to coalitions with everyone except United Russia," Yemelyanov said, noting that the ambitions of different opposition factions are a major hindrance to defeating the ruling party.

Independent political analyst and election expert Dmitry Oreshkin thinks the Communists and Just Russia are misreading their electorate. "Galanin is old and insipid ­ and Kaliningrad is a liberal, European city, where there is more freedom and less government control," Oreshkin said.

Liberals are also expected to team up in Kaliningrad. Vladimir Ryzhkov, the co-chairman of the Republican Party of Russia ­ People's Freedom Party (known as RPR-Parnas), which is itself a coalition, told The Moscow News that his party would support Yabloko in Kaliningrad. RPR-Parnas will participate in various regional elections in October and is also holding talks with other political factions in order to join forces.

Oreshkin is not optimistic about the opposition's chances, however, noting that the local authorities will ultimately stand in their path. "The only advantage the opposition can achieve through this campaign is gaining experience, publicity and stepping up pressure on the authorities," he said.

The federal government is likely to do its bit to secure victories for United Russia in October. Already the deputy head of the Central Elections Commission, Leonid Ivlev, has stated that legislation on election monitors should be toughened.

Commenting on the results of the July 22 elections of a legislature in Kasimov, a small town some 250 kilometers away from Moscow, Ivlev said that "many of the monitors... behaved in a very aggressive manner, interfering in vote counting."

The elections in Kasimov sparked nationwide interest after local authorities decided to hold early elections, while United Russia's chief ideologist, Alexei Chesnakov, announced his run for a seat in the Kasimov legislature since "a real politician should start a career at the grassroots level." Experts saw it as an opportunity for him to be appointed to the Federation Council as a senator from the Ryazan region ­ something Chesnakov did not deny.

Kasimov fraud ignored?

"The authorities took advantage of this opportunity and sent Molodaya Gvardiya [a pro-Kremlin youth group], members of 'For Clean Elections' [a pro-Kremlin association of monitors] and others, but they did not register any violations," Golos, the independent election watchdog, stated in its report following the Kasimov elections. "The number of violations registered by independent monitors was critical for a town with a population of 30,000 people."

United Russia polled 50 percent in Kasimov. "Everyone went out of his way to secure the right results for United Russia as Alexei Chesnakov was running there," election expert Oreshkin said. "The real result must have been somewhere between 40 and 45 percent."

Just Russia was taken out of the Kasimov race over a technicality. "If it had been in the race, the Communists would have polled less ­ and United Russia [would have polled] much less," Oreshkin said.

Another barrier for the opposition is the so-called municipal filter. In the process of liberalizing Russia's election laws, it was nevertheless proposed that one should collect the signatures of 5 to 10 percent (depending on the region) of municipal deputies or mayors to register. And one official can put his or her signature for one candidate only.

Last week, the Communist nominee for Novgorod region governor, Olga Yefimova, published an open letter to President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, describing how such filters work.

Eighty percent of deputies put their signatures for incumbent Governor Sergei Mitin, while 10 percent would have been enough for him. Yefimova needs at least 38 signatures to register. She had solicited the support of over 40 deputies, but after local authorities exerted pressure on them, she said, only 15 people reiterated their support.

"People don't understand why you abolished the practice of appointing governors," Yefimova wrote bitterly. "You could at least have saved millions for local budgets."