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Russia went to the polls between the 15-18th of March and no one will be surprised at the outcome: Putin won again, and will continue to rule for as long as his cold heart desires. So why do Russia bother with such cumbersome endeavours, what is their purpose, and why do they matter?
As there has not been a change of government in Russia through the ballot box since 1991, one may presume that Putin should just dispense with them altogether, and rule indefinitely without risk of electoral embarrassment. However, this presumption would be misplaced, as elections serve a vital purpose within Putin’s Russia, there to consolidate his own power and claim legitimacy for his rule.
Each time an election is held in a conventional democracy, it is a tool for the people to have their say on the future of their country. What matters is the outcome, who gets to lead the country, and the proposals they carry with them. In Russia, elections do not serve the people, the outcome is fixed, and what matters is simply how many people turn up to vote, and the size of his majority. With a high turnout and percentage of the vote, he claims legitimacy for his rule, and starves off any potential rival from attempting a coup. A renewal of this form of legitimacy, despite elections being neither free nor fair, is vital in allowing him to also claim on the international stage that he has the support of the people for malign actions, for example his ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. Therefore, as the aim is to ensure a large turnout coupled with a sizeable Putin majority, campaigns are run in a different way than in a conventional democracy. Whilst in the UK or US, the campaign is used as a marketplace of ideas and policy proposals, with large resources invested into developing policy and campaign slogans to win over the populace, in Russia, policy and the winner is decided already. As a result, resources are invested in ensuring that the maximum amount of people can vote. For example, voting is held over three days, with polls open from Friday to Sunday, as opposed to a single day in the UK. This is to ensure people can go over their weekend when they have the free time to do so. This is coupled with heavy state leaning on employers to remind their employees to vote, the bussing of voters to polling stations, as well as more nefarious tactics such as ballot stuffing and carousel voting (where voters are taken to multiple polling stations to vote multiple times). Finally, candidates who are too high a threat to Putin are banned from running, ensuring that the other candidates on the ballot pose no risk to Putin. This was done in 2024, with Boris Nadezhdin and Yekatarina Duntsova both banned from running for President on an anti-war mandate, ensuring that there was no embarrassment for Putin.
Another reason that elections are vital for Putin in ensuring his position as President, is that elections are a way to consolidate power from within the party. Each time there are elections for lower positions, such as in the Duma (the Russian Parliament), each candidate must demonstrate absolute loyalty to the regime, and Putin himself. If they were to fail in this, it would certainly spell the end of their political career, if not their life. As such, each politician is reminded that they owe their position and status within the Russian system to Vladimir Putin himself, maintaining their loyalty to the end. As such, the chances of someone within deposing Putin is minimised, ensuring his perennial regime remains.
When you next read about Russian elections, remember that it is not about the outcome, you can be sure of that, but there as a tool for Putin to consolidate power and stave off internal opposition. As for democracy in Russia, it leaves a lot to be desired, and one can only hope it improves after Putin’s inevitable demise.
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