Protest from the mind – Newspaper Kommersant No. 158 (7359) of 08/30/2022

The Smart Voting project (developed in 2018 to support the most powerful opposition candidates) will for the first time change the principle of generating a list of recommendations. Associates of the imprisoned politician Alexei Navalny said that this year they will be called to vote only for those candidates who do not support the special military operation in Ukraine. According to the oppositionists, this will allow citizens who disagree with the foreign policy of the authorities to “legally protest”. A similar statement was made earlier by the Yabloko party, calling for its candidates to be voted in order to demonstrate the proportion of pro-peace Russians. The expert believes that all candidates from Yabloko can be included in the Smart Voting list, but the party itself is unlikely to like it.

The Smart Voting system developed by Alexei Navalny will change the principle of operation for the first time in four years. As Leonid Volkov, the closest associate of the oppositionist (included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of individuals-foreign agents, accused under several articles of the Criminal Code, lives abroad), said in a stream on the YouTube channel on August 28 that in September 2022 the lists of candidates will be compiled only for municipal elections in Moscow and in they will include people who opposed the special operation in Ukraine or who do not speak out in support of it. Thus, Muscovites will be able to legally express their “anti-war position” without the risk of being punished for an unauthorized protest, Mr. Volkov explained. He also added that the effectiveness of the system will be assessed by the results of in-person voting at polling stations without taking into account the results of remote electronic voting (DEV).

Earlier, Yabloko took a similar position: the party called on those who disagree with the foreign policy of the Russian authorities to vote for the candidates it nominated.

Recall that until now the Smart Voting lists have been compiled on the basis of sociology and expert assessments: supporters of Mr. Navalny called for voting for a candidate of any political views if he has the greatest chance of defeating an opponent from United Russia or a candidate agreed with the authorities.

The leader of the Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma and one of the curators of the municipal campaign in the capital, Maxim Kruglov, told Kommersant that he “doesn’t care” which candidates are on the Smart Voting list. “My personal opinion about this project does not change. Last year, on their recommendation, people voted for the Stalinists. We didn’t hear any words of regret about this from them, so we are not very interested in their new voting criteria,” the deputy explained.

Meanwhile, candidates nominated by Yabloko continue to be removed from elections precisely for their links with the structures of Alexei Navalny recognized as extremist organizations – either for their “involvement” in their activities, or for demonstrating their symbols and, in particular, the Smart Voting logo, although the party has always criticized this project. Already after the end of the registration of candidates in Moscow, the courts removed 11 Yabloko members on these grounds, and at the end of last week protocols were drawn up for another five people.

Candidates interviewed by Kommersant fear that getting on the Smart Voting list could become a “black mark” for them and deprive them of the opportunity to be elected deputies. Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev agrees with this opinion. “If Navalny’s supporters this time decided to support ‘anti-war’ candidates, then questions arise both about the selection criteria and the effectiveness of support,” the expert explains. “More than 6,000 candidates are registered in Moscow. Someone, being outside of Russia, seriously dealt with the views of so many people? I do not believe. As for the formation of some lists for support, the time is different now. The effectiveness of such lists will not be great.” Candidates who really want to be elected try not to talk about their attitude to the special operation, so it is difficult to reveal their position, Mr. Kalachev emphasizes. The most effective method for Alexei Navalny’s associates would be to include all Yabloko candidates on their list, but the party itself is unlikely to like this, the political scientist concludes.

Kira Heifetz