Navalny urges voters to support any candidate running against Russia’s ruling party in upcoming elections
Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny called on his supporters and opposition voters to participate in the Russian elections set to take place in September 2023 and to vote “for any candidate against United Russia.” Navalny employed the same strategy during the 2011 Russian election campaign.
While Navalny continues to see “smart voting” as the best strategy, he notes in his blog that it is not applicable given the situation in 2023, as authorities don’t just withdraw candidates who are supported by the opposition, but put them in jail. He also refers to the high level of fraud and the restrictions on the work of election observers.
Is it possible to achieve anything in the 2023 elections? I believe it is possible. We just have to focus on the absolute basics:
1. We, opposition voters, have to preserve the practice and right to vote in elections. Sooner or later, they will be be relatively free. We must win in them. This won’t happen if we convince ourselves that elections are meaningless and have no importance, and get used to not voting.
2. We must support the desire to run for office. There are many good candidates in the regions. Some are even great. Personally, I find myself in the situation where it’s better for me to not name them. In any case, they need our votes and support. And they definitely don’t need our whining about how it’s useless.
3. It’s extremely important to preserve what remains of infrastructure for observers. As I said, sooner or later, Russia will have relatively free elections, and they will again try to steal votes. We’ll need to have experienced observers.
I believe that in the current situation we need to take a step back and return to the strategy of voting “for any candidate against United Russia.” Go participate in the elections with the goal of inflicting the most possible damage on the ruling party and its candidates.
