United Russia will open offices of public support in 25 regions before the end of the year

New public support headquarters for United Russia will appear in 25 regions in 2023 (they are already operating in 28), a party representative told Vedomosti. Among the regions where such headquarters will appear is the LPR: elections of deputies to legislative assemblies will be held there on September 10. This is more the rule than the exception. Only in seven of the 25 subjects of the Federation, where United Russia opens such headquarters, there will be no election campaign at the regional level (see inset).

On the basis of headquarters, as Vedomosti wrote on April 10, the party intends to implement new projects and involve citizens in them. These are, in fact, informal reception rooms, the design style of which differs from party offices, explained the head of the central executive committee of United Russia, Alexander Sidyakin. The interlocutor in United Russia explains that one of the tasks of the headquarters grid will be to expand the base audience of United Russia and work with such local communities that are traditionally reluctant to work with the authorities: this explains the attempt to create headquarters that will work in parallel with the branches ” United Russia” and traditional reception rooms.

Deputy Secretary of the General Council of United Russia, Senator from the LPR Daria Lantratova gives an example: the public support headquarters of United Russia, which she opened in the Ryazan region on April 22, looks completely atypical for a party office. Although United Russia does not abandon the symbolism, it has been modernized – in the case of Ryazan, the bear is stylized as a paratrooper. “Each region will have its own individual approach to the work of such headquarters,” explains Lantratova. “The main thing is that we reduce the distance in communicating with people.” “We are supplementing the traditional bureaucratic communication formats with new and relevant ones,” she adds.

Experts interviewed by Vedomosti believe that public support headquarters are being created not only to solve the tactical tasks of attracting voters to the 2023 elections. Most likely, this can become a tool for working with people and communities that usually distance themselves from power. The political infrastructure of United Russia, including the headquarters of its public support, will also be the main organizational tool in the presidential elections in Russia in 2024, political scientist Yevgeny Minchenko believes, although other structures will also work on a common task.

The main candidate’s regional headquarters are unlikely to be linked directly to United Russia, as it is important for the president to demonstrate broad public support, political analyst Rostislav Turovsky said. But the party can try to lay the foundation for creating such a network, he said: “The headquarters created on the initiative of United Russia will then be deployed to support the candidate.” And at this stage, cooperation with social activists within the framework of the party campaign becomes especially useful.