Why Navalny can't run for president. Western media do not doubt Putin’s victory, but regret the absence of Navalny from the ballot

Thus, persons sentenced to imprisonment for committing grave and (or) especially grave crimes and who have an unexpunged and unexpunged conviction for these crimes on the day of voting in the elections do not have the right to be elected. Subclause a.1 of clause 3.2 of Article 4 of this law extends the restriction of passive voting rights for persons convicted of committing serious crimes for 10 years from the date of removal or expungement of the criminal record. Similar rules are contained in Federal law“On the election of the President of the Russian Federation.”

Part 3 of Article 15 of the Criminal Code defines crimes of average gravity as intentional acts for which the maximum punishment provided for by the Code does not exceed five years in prison.

Part 4 of Article 15 of the Criminal Code defines serious crimes as intentional acts, for the commission of which the maximum punishment provided for by the Code does not exceed ten years of imprisonment.

It should also be taken into account that the severity and punishability of an act are determined by the criminal law that was in force at the time the act was committed, and not at the time of sentencing.

To date, Alexey Navalny has two criminal records: the “Yves Rocher case” and the “deputy Lisovenko case.”.navalny.com

CASE OF DEPUTY LISOVENKO

By a decision of the Babushkinsky District Court on June 23, 2014, the verdict of the magistrate court under Part 1 of Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Slander) was left unchanged. The penalty was a fine of 300,000 rubles. The sanction of this article does not provide for deprivation of liberty. The crime is classified as minor. Currently, in accordance with paragraph “b” of Part 3 of Article 86 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, this criminal record has been expunged.

THE YVES ROCHE CASE

By an appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court on February 17, 2015, Alexey Navalny was sentenced to 3 years 6 months of suspended imprisonment with probationary period 5 years.

He was found guilty under the articles provided for in Part 3 of Art. 159.4, part 2 art. 159.4 and paragraph “a”, part 2 of Art. 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Under these articles, the following maximum sanctions in the form of imprisonment were provided:

Part 3 art. 159.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - up to five years in prison;

Part 2 art. 159.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - up to three years in prison;

Part 2 art. 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - up to five years in prison.

Thus, in the “Yves Rocher case,” Alexei Navalny was not convicted of committing serious crimes.

KIROVLES-2

On February 8, 2017, the Leninsky District Court of Kirov issued a verdict in the second “Kirovles case”, in which Alexey Navalny was given a suspended sentence under Part 4 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Embezzlement committed on an especially large scale).

The sanction of Part 4 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for up to 10 years of imprisonment. That is, Alexei Navalny was sentenced in this case for committing a serious crime.

However, in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 86 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a criminal record is formed only by a court verdict that has entered into legal force.

The verdict of the Leninsky District Court of Kirov has not yet entered into force. In accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, this sentence can come into force only after 10 days and only if an appeal is not filed (Part 1 of Article 389.4, Part 1 of Article 390 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

An appeal against the verdict will be filed immediately.

If an appeal is filed, a criminal record can only arise after a decision is made by the Kirov Regional Court, which is the court of appeal in this case.

The decision of the Kirov Regional Court, in turn, can be successfully challenged and overturned in subsequent instances at national and international level. This was proven by the decision of the ECHR in the first “Kirovles case”.

It is important to remember Part 3 of Art. 32 of the Constitution, which establishes that only citizens held in places of deprivation of liberty by a court verdict do not have the right to be elected. The Constitution of the Russian Federation has supreme legal force and direct effect (Part 1, Article 15). Thus, according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, only deprivation of liberty limits passive suffrage. Alexei Navalny is not being held in prison and can continue his election campaign.

CONCLUSION

Based on the analysis of existing criminal records and the verdict in the second “Kirovles case”, which did not enter into force, Alexey Navalny has no convictions for serious crimes. The presence of other criminal records does not affect the passive voting rights of Alexei Navalny and continues to allow him to nominate his candidacy in elections at all levels.

On this moment There are no legal obstacles to the nomination of Alexei Navalny for president. Any obstacles that may arise in the future (for example, after the decision of the Leninsky District Court of Kirov comes into force) directly contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation and will be immediately appealed and canceled in Constitutional Court and/or the ECHR. Alexey Navalny will continue his active election campaign in the Russian presidential elections, which will take place in March 2018.

December 2017 brought several surprises to the presidential election campaign. One of the first was the nomination from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation not of Gennady Zyuganov, but of Pavel Grudinin. Then even the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation was surprised at how many self-nominated candidates were able to collect the minimum number of signatures and declare themselves. Someone was surprised by Vladimir Putin’s statement that he would not march under the banners of any parties. Well, the most intriguing moment in the context of the launched election race was, perhaps, the decision on the application of a famous oppositionist. Millions of Russians asked the same question: “Will Navalny participate in the 2018 elections?”. The Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation said “no” and refused to register Alexey Anatolyevich’s candidacy. But the politician is already accustomed to the fact that no one from government service representatives is in a particular hurry to meet him. Hoping to challenge the decision of the Central Election Commission, he turned to Supreme Court. On December 30, the final answer came from the mentioned authority.

On December 26, 2017, the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation rejected the applicant’s application, citing an outstanding criminal record. For the million-strong army of Navalny’s supporters, this came as a surprise. Of course, fans of the oppositionist feel sorry for Alexey. He worked so long to gather this same audience. Held dozens of rallies. Participated in many debates both in open areas with ordinary people, as well as with famous figures in politics, journalism, culture and others. After numerous sleepless nights, a lot of wasted nerves and money, the oppositionist wanted to achieve a positive result. The site's editors do not take sides, but believe that any work should be rewarded. However, as many bloggers have already noticed, at the final speech at the Russian Central Election Commission, the politician lost his nerve.

We have already written that Alexei Navalny’s behavior during his speech at the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation before the commission was not the best. He was openly rude to Ella Pamfilova; humiliated the status of “state employees,” saying that they “sit on the necks of citizens.” All this was noticed by the famous publicist Dmitry Puchkov, who voiced the described rudeness from the oppositionist in the video.

After a “devastating” speech at the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Navalny was given a quite expected refusal to register his candidacy. A few hours later, a video appeared on Alexey Anatolyevich’s YouTube channel in which the politician called for a boycott of the upcoming presidential elections 2018. The video quickly spread throughout social networks and media. Seeing the growing interest on the part of journalists, the Kremlin leadership could not remain aloof. Navalny's statement was of great interest to press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

“Calls for a boycott are, of course, subject to very scrupulous study for compliance or contradiction with our legislation.”, - Dmitry Peskov told TASS reporters.

A few days later, the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation was criticized. Western authorities, as well as numerous journalists from reputable media, unanimously accused the country’s government “in the application of strict measures in relation to certain independent voices, failure to protect Russia’s space for the exercise of human rights”.

But neither this statement nor any other in which there is a mention of “infringement of rights” confirms concrete examples. A corresponding statement was made by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

"On what basis official representatives The United States considers itself entitled to assess the internal political processes of other countries, remains unknown, she emphasized. — As for some strict measures against independent voices, in particular we are talking about journalists, what specific cases are we talking about? Can the State Department, for example, provide us with correct information about which agency is applying these strict measures and how?”, Maria Zakharova told reporters on December 28.

Political scientists assessed the statements of the State Department and Western media as an attempt to exert possible pressure on the Supreme Court of Russia, to which Alexei Navalny filed a complaint days earlier. This is the penultimate authority through which the oppositionist could “break through” and register his candidacy. The judge considered the arguments of the administrative plaintiff that the verdict of the Leninsky Court of Kirov cannot form a criminal record due to non-compliance with the decision of the ECHR to be unfounded.

“The Supreme Court finds no grounds to satisfy the stated requirements. In satisfaction of the claim Navalny Alexey Anatolyevich<…>refuse", - read the judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Nikolai Romanenkov.

The Supreme Court of Russia rejected our claim and also believes that I should not be allowed to participate in the elections. I have three comments:
1. KMBU
2. Such judges must be judged themselves.
3. Voter strike. We do not recognize elections without competition.

Illustration copyright Valeriy Sharifulln/TASS Image caption Navalny is one of the most recognizable Russian oppositionists

Four months before the Russian presidential elections, the Kremlin has decided on the main intrigue of the election campaign: who will be the rivals of President Vladimir Putin. After several months of non-public consultations, officials decided: Putin’s main opponent, founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation Alexei Navalny, will not be registered as a candidate.

This was reported to the BBC Russian Service on condition of anonymity by an interlocutor in the presidential administration, who took part in the discussion of the scenarios, but is not authorized to comment to the media.

This is also confirmed by a BBC interlocutor close to the administration, who is also not authorized to speak officially. The head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, also announced the politician’s inability to participate in the elections on Tuesday.

And so they will come

Putin has not yet announced his participation in the elections, but according to an October poll by the Levada Center, he is the undisputed number one candidate: 64% of those planning to vote are ready to support him.

However, the Kremlin is not concerned about Putin’s victory, but about turnout. Russians' interest in predetermined elections is falling: turnout in the 2016 State Duma elections and in the 2017 regional elections was quite low.

In order to legitimize the election results, increase turnout and create intrigue in the election campaign, the Kremlin discussed the possibility of admitting Navalny to the elections, Bloomberg wrote at the beginning of the year. Navalny is one of the most recognizable Russian opposition figures: according to a July survey by the Levada Center, 55% of Russians surveyed know about him.

Illustration copyright Sorokin Donat\TASS Image caption Navalny is waging a campaign that is not coordinated with the Kremlin

Indirectly about discussing the likelihood of Navalny’s participation in election campaign The comments of the head of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova were also evidenced: in July she said that Navalny has a chance to be registered if a miracle happens: the expungement of his criminal record or urgent changes to the laws.

• “The presidential administration will not resort to any tricks or tailoring of legislation to suit a specific citizen,” says the BBC’s interlocutor in the presidential administration.

Now Pamfilova spoke more categorically. On Tuesday, speaking at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Sochi, the head of the Central Election Commission categorically stated that Navalny now has no right to participate in the upcoming elections. “Somewhere in 2028 plus five months,” Pamfilova calculated when he could become a presidential candidate.

The decision to keep Navalny out has been made and it is unequivocal, a BBC interlocutor in the presidential administration said. The presence or absence of Navalny on the ballot does not affect interest in the elections or turnout: they themselves are interesting for voters, Gleb Kuznetsov, head of the EISI expert center close to the Kremlin, told the BBC.

“Why should someone come up with an intrigue? All external intrigues and the selection of participants interesting to the press do not affect the turnout in any way. Elections of the so-called referendum type usually take place with even a higher turnout than competitive ones,” Kuznetsov concluded.

What is preventing Navalny from advancing?

Alexei Navalny announced his intention to participate in the presidential elections back in December 2016. Since then, he has been actively campaigning: he opened 79 election headquarters in different regions Russia (statistics from his election website) and held several protests involving thousands of people. The headquarters are looking for supporters who will help Navalny register as a self-nominated candidate: according to the law, he needs to collect 300 thousand voter signatures.

• In September, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which oversees the implementation of ECHR decisions, spoke in support of Navalny’s right to be elected: the committee expressed concern that the applicants continue to suffer from the consequences of the sentences and suggested that the Russian authorities urgently use ways to eliminate the consequences, in particular, a ban on Navalny's participation in the elections.

However, according to Russian laws Navalny cannot take part in the upcoming 2018 elections. In 2013, the Kirov court sentenced him to five years probation in the Kirovles case. For ten years after expunging his criminal record, he cannot run for president.

Navalny’s lawyers managed to challenge the verdict once: in February 2016, the European Court of Human Rights recognized that the Russian side violated the rights of Navalny and the second convicted person, Pyotr Ofitserov, to a fair trial. Russia's Supreme Court overturned the verdict, sending it back for a new trial, and Navalny temporarily regained the right to run for office.

But already at the beginning of 2017, the same Kirov court again sentenced Navalny to a suspended sentence; in May the sentence came into force, and now Navalny is again deprived of rights stand for election.

Navalny's supporters consider the ban on participation in the elections to be unfounded. “Alexey can run for office on the basis of the Constitution: according to it, only people in prison cannot do this. And the decisions that the ECHR makes in favor of Alexey over and over again indicate that the verdicts of the Russian courts against him are unjust and cannot be an obstacle to his participation in the elections,” Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh told the BBC.

Illustration copyright Sergei Fadeichev/TASS Image caption Navalny sharply criticized TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak after reports of her plans to participate in the elections

Will there be more candidates?

Despite the decision to refuse admission to Putin’s main political opponent, the presidential administration would not like to limit itself to the traditional selection of candidates from parliamentary parties. This is necessary to demonstrate that critics of the government are not barred from participating in the elections.

“There is an understanding that some of the radical oppositionists will want to show up. Either [Dmitry] Gudkov will want to promote himself before the mayoral elections. Or Lev Shlosberg,” says a BBC interlocutor in the presidential administration. According to him, if they decide to participate in the elections, the Kremlin will not interfere with them.

However, these candidates themselves do not plan to be nominated. The head of the Pskov branch of Yabloko, Lev Shlosberg, in a conversation with the BBC, said that he would support the candidacy of party leader Grigory Yavlinsky, who should be nominated at the upcoming congress in December. Ex-deputy Dmitry Gudkov also stated that he “has an agreement with Yavlinsky.”

A candidate from the Growth Party will definitely be nominated; internal party primaries are now taking place there, says a presidential administration official. Earlier, RBC reported that business ombudsman Boris Titov, ex-State Duma deputy Oksana Dmitrieva, Internet ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev and businessman Dmitry Potapenko are participating in the preliminary elections. In addition, it is expected that other “small parties” not represented in the Duma will nominate their candidates, the BBC’s interlocutor says.

Another possible participant in the elections, to whom the Kremlin has no objection, is TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak, BBC sources previously reported. She herself neither confirmed nor denied her participation in the campaign. And in early October, her friends said, she met with Putin and talked to him alone.

Traditionally, the leaders of the LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov and A Just Russia Sergei Mironov are expected to participate in the elections. “The LDPR will certainly participate in the elections, the main candidate is Vladimir Zhirinovsky,” his assistant told the BBC. "A Just Russia" will make all decisions on the presidential election - on participation and candidacy - at the congress, an assistant to the head of the Socialist-Revolutionaries Sergei Mironov told the BBC. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation reported that it will officially announce the nomination of its candidate at the congress in December.

In September, Boris Yakemenko, brother of the founder and former leader movement "Ours" by Vasily Yakemenko. Political strategist Andrei Bogdanov, who had already participated in the 2008 elections and gained 1.29%, announced his desire to become a presidential candidate.

Vladimir Putin has not yet announced his decision to run again in the elections, but preparations for his nomination are in full swing. He is expected to announce his plans in December.

Will there be intrigue?

The presence among the candidates of a real oppositionist who seriously criticizes Putin would, of course, increase interest in the elections, says political scientist Abbas Gallyamov. But the advantages of Navalny’s admission for the Kremlin end there, and there are many more disadvantages.

“By admitting Navalny, you are essentially admitting that he is not an American spy, although earlier you argued the opposite. Our people simply will not understand such liberalism,” says Gallyamov.

In addition, it is not clear how Putin’s voter will behave when he hears the oppositionist’s exposure on Channel One. “No one can predict his reaction in advance. No matter how high Putin’s ratings are, they are based on the absence of criticism,” says the political scientist.

Finally, by registering Navalny, there is a risk of inspiring his supporters and demoralizing the pro-government voter, Gallyamov notes: “Navalny will definitely interpret the fact of registration as his victory. As a result, the turnout among his supporters will reach 100%, and they will spend the campaign itself on the rise, pulling into their camp of a significant portion of undecided voters."

“The question whether Navalny has or does not have the right to participate in the elections is a false question. He is already quite obviously a participant in these elections. But everything is still ahead. Therefore, I think that we will see the warming up of the campaign by December and, apparently, a clash between the authorities and those citizens , which demand that Navalny be given the opportunity to participate,” says political scientist Gleb Pavlovsky.

According to Pavlovsky, Putin is withstanding the intrigue, “he intends to blow up a campaign in which he is not yet present, he is on the sidelines.” “I think that today there is no such thing as a single opinion of the Kremlin. There are different positions, all of them are not finalized, since there is no open political stage on which they can express themselves,” the political scientist concludes.

“Your legal constructions are absolutely incorrect,” Navalny responded to this, speaking at the meeting. — Russian Federation did not comply with the request of the European Court [to cancel the verdict in the “Kirovles case”].” According to the oppositionist, he represents “a huge number of voters” and “the decision not to allow participation in the elections will exclude millions of people from these elections.” “You are sitting here, living people, pink, well-fed. I understand the complexity of your situation, but you can do it once in your life the right thing", suggested Navalny.

“We’re definitely not cookies here that anyone should like,” Pamfilova told him. “We have convictions, and we should not monopolize our right to conviction.” She asked Navalny whether he believed that the Central Electoral Commission was competent to expunge his criminal record, and added that it was in the interests of the Central Election Commission to let him participate in the elections so that he could “gain a percentage corresponding to his popularity.”

“You are collecting money illegally and fooling young people,” the CEC chairwoman noted.

“I understand that we are pink for you here, but we are definitely not blue. You can dress me in a uniform and draw me a mustache and beard [she was referring to Navalny’s post in which he compared her to her predecessor as head of the Central Election Commission, Vladimir Churov]. But I am ready to meet with your voters, even despite the insults that you allow yourself,” she added.

Before the voting of the Central Election Commission members, Navalny warned that the consequence of refusal to allow him to participate in the elections would be a boycott of these elections by “a huge number of people.” After the decision was made, Navalny published his video message to voters, urging them not to come to polling stations other than as observers.

“We are calling a voter strike. [But] we are not sitting on the couch and are not inactive, we are organizing observation of these “elections”, control over them, but not from the point of view of the results of these dummy candidates, but from the point of view of voter turnout. After all, the Kremlin’s main task now will be to falsify voter turnout,” the oppositionist said.

Navalny also called not to recognize the government that “will remain sitting in the offices following the election results.”

Video: RBC

At the end of last year, Alexey Navalny announced his participation in the presidential elections. Since September 2017, he has regularly held rallies in Russian regions in support of his nomination. In mid-December, he launched his program, in which, in particular, he proposed to exempt small businesses from taxes, liquidate the Pension Fund, create a special service to combat corruption and abolish conscription.

The day before, during a meeting with his initiative group in Serebryany Bor, Navalny asked what he would do if he was not registered as a candidate. He promised an active boycott of the elections and called on his competitors not to participate in them, so that the elections would be recognized as illegitimate. The founder of FBK did not rule out street protests.

Political consultant Dmitry Fetisov believes that the Kremlin has already studied all the risks associated with Navalny’s statements about boycotting the elections, and did not see any threat in them. The authorities managed to successfully win away part of the electorate from Navalny in favor of TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak, says political scientist Abbas Gallyamov.

“Navalny’s non-registration will damage the reputation of the elections, since he is the only candidate who has been campaigning all year. He has become a symbolic figure, and his exclusion is a symbolic issue. It is clear that this is a candidate from the urban young and educated, “advanced” electorate,” political scientist Alexander Kynev commented to RBC. According to him, it is significant that Navalny was able to gather initiative groups for promotion throughout Russia, and by not allowing him to participate in the campaign, the authorities will only serve to further symbolize the founder of FBK. At the same time, the expert noted that if Navalny had not been allowed to participate in the elections, and if Putin’s competitors had remained the traditional leaders of parliamentary parties - Sergei Mironov, Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Gennady Zyuganov, then it would be difficult for the authorities to count on a turnout of more than 60%. “For this reason, the authorities tried to last days revive the campaign with the appearance of Pavel Grudinin from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation,” says Kynev.

Why did the Central Election Commission refuse Navalny?

The Central Election Commission has repeatedly noted that they will not be able to register Navalny as a presidential candidate because of his criminal record in the “Kirovles” case. According to the Law “On Presidential Elections”, citizens sentenced to imprisonment for serious crimes do not have the right to participate in elections for ten years after the removal or expungement of their criminal record. Navalny called the refusal to register him in the elections contrary to the Russian Constitution.

Three years after the verdict, Navalny’s sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court, as the European Court of Human Rights found the defendant’s rights to a fair trial to be violated. After a retrial of the case, the oppositionist was sentenced to the same term. Taking into account the sentence already served, his suspended sentence will end in 2018. In November, the ECHR filed Navalny's complaints against the second verdict in the case. The oppositionist himself emphasized that it was precisely because of this verdict that the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, “does not want” him to “let him participate in the elections.”

At the same meeting, the Central Election Commission approved documents for the nomination of Yabloko co-founder Grigory Yavlinsky for president of Russia. The candidate received permission to open a special electoral account and to collect, after opening the account, signatures from voters. The same decision was made in relation to business ombudsman Boris Titov, nominated by the Growth Party, and in relation to Maxim Suraikin from the Communists of Russia.

On Monday, the Central Election Commission refused to register the nomination of the candidate from the Russian United Labor Front Natalya Lisitsyna and the representative of the Women's Dialogue party Elena Semerikova (due to problems with documents), as well as self-nominated Sergei Polonsky (he did not submit documents about his foreign real estate and did not gather enough people for nomination) and Oleg Lurie (he was supported by only 26 people out of 500 required, and he has a criminal record). The registration of the candidate from the All-Russian People's Union, Sergei Baburin, was postponed (he was asked to correct minor errors in the documentation).

Self-nominated candidates will be able to submit nomination documents again until January 7, and party candidates until January 12. Candidates from parties registered by the Ministry of Justice will have to collect 100 thousand signatures after nomination, and self-nominated candidates will have to collect 300 thousand. The votes will be checked by the Central Election Commission, and based on the results of checking the signatures, a decision will be made on the registration of candidates.

How the Central Election Commission denied registration to potential presidential candidates

December 16, 2011 Central Election Commission to healer Nikolai Levashov. The basis for this was information received by the Central Election Commission that for the last ten years Levashov had not resided permanently in Russia.

Two days later, the commission denied registration to three more candidates. Opposition politician Eduard Limonov due to the fact that the petition for registration of a group of voters created to support Savenko’s self-nomination ( real name Limonov) did not attach a notarized protocol for the registration of its members.

Reserve Colonel General Leonid Ivashov had a protocol, but the document did not contain the date of the meeting of the group of voters.

Boris Mironov, a member of the Russian Writers' Union, was refused due to the fact that his book “The Verdict for Those Killing Russia” was recognized as extremist. Later, the Supreme Court's decision by the CEC was illegal.

On January 20, 2012, the CEC also denied registration to businessman Rinat Khamiev, former mayor of Vladivostok Viktor Cherepkov and leader of the unregistered Volya party Svetlana Peunova. In each case, the justification was the same - an insufficient number of voter signatures in support of the candidate.

A week later, the Central Election Commission refused to register two more presidential candidates - co-founder of the Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky and the governor of the Irkutsk region Dmitry Mezentsev. Both Required documents for registration, including more than 2 million voter signatures. The basis for the refusal was the results of checks of subscription lists in their support, which revealed high percent false and invalid documents.

Alexey Navalny launched a volunteer project to observe the presidential elections - the very ones in which he urges his supporters not to participate. "Observers - ​ main strength strikes,” says his website. The oppositionist calls on his supporters to boycott the elections, but in order not to merge with the electorate, which passively will not come to vote, he invited them to sign up as observers and spend voting day usefully - at a polling station or at home on the computer

Navalny is convinced that the authorities need a turnout that will prove the legitimacy of Vladimir Putin’s victory. In order to show that no one will come to the elections, and the turnout will be “faked,” the oppositionist created a network of observers, who are now supervised by his 80 former election headquarters throughout the country. Other opposition forces are ready to cooperate with the project, in particular in Moscow similar work led by Dmitry Gudkov's team.

On his website, Navalny talks about three possible surveillance options. The first is an observer who monitors the “stuffing” and is present at the site continuously for about 16-18 hours. Such an observer must have a direction from the party or accreditation from the media. The second option is the observer-counter. The website states that this is suitable for those under 18 years of age. Such an observer simply counts the heads of those who come to vote at his polling station. And finally, the third option is a remote observer. This person takes on online surveillance; he monitors one specific polling station via a webcam and also, head-to-head, counts those who come there to vote.

First, you need to leave your address on Navalny’s website Email. Then a representative of the headquarters contacts the person and, having received consent, transfers his contacts to the network of regional headquarters, Novaya told about this Nikolai Levshits, head of the observer training project at Navalny's headquarters:

— Next, we invite people to lectures and seminars, which we have been running throughout the country for six months. There are a lot of newcomers to watching, and everywhere is a full house. If a person wants to do video surveillance, we will send him instructions by email on how to do it. We are also currently developing IT services, for example, a surveillance application.

The headquarters explains that this is the first surveillance project “with federal coverage”, as well as involving so many civilians in it active people. Levshits notes that Navalny’s headquarters will also cooperate with the headquarters of Dmitry Gudkov, who also created his own surveillance project, but this is not a merger of projects:

— This is normal, effective cooperation within the framework of information exchange and more effective placement of observers. So that we don’t end up with three or four observers per site, of course, we interact. Dmitry's project is focused on Moscow. He made a button on the website for those who want to observe outside of Moscow; if you click on it, data from observers will be transferred to us.

To receive a referral to a polling station, an observer must be accredited either by the candidate’s headquarters or by the media. Levshits says that an agreement on cooperation has already been reached with some parties, but Navalny’s headquarters has not yet disclosed with whom exactly.

One of the leaders of Ksenia Sobchak’s headquarters, Marina Litvinovich told Novaya that they are ready to provide directions to polling stations for everyone, “no matter whose supporters they are.” And in Moscow they will definitely be coordinated with Dmitry Gudkov and his project, that is, indirectly with Navalny.

Press secretary of Pavel Grudinin's headquarters Alexander Yushchenko also supported a “constructive dialogue” with everyone who contacts the party for directions to the polling stations: “We will cooperate with all those who want to achieve real results in these elections, and with those who are doing everything to protect the will of citizens and not allow falsifications,” Yushchenko told Novaya.

Yabloko, in turn, was skeptical about the prospect of issuing directions to Navalny’s observers.

“I don’t understand at all how Alexei Navalny’s observation headquarters can even be if he calls for not going to the elections,” he says Chief of Staff of Grigory Yavlinsky Nikolai Rybakov. — ​In elections, votes cast for a candidate are monitored. And to watch the turnout... Let's also watch the weather. What matters is how many votes are cast for the candidate you support. Everything else is all-consuming hype.

Head of the Yabloko faction Legislative Assembly St. Petersburg Boris Vishnevsky told Novaya that Navalny’s project seems absurd to him, since if a person calls not to go to the polls, he has no incentive to observe them:

— People who don’t want to give their vote will never be able to protect someone else’s when they try to steal it. The position “we will boycott the elections, but we will observe them” is an absolutely ostrich and contradictory position. And most importantly: Navalny will not and cannot have any observers. Observers are sent by registered candidates and also by public chambers. Registered candidates, in my opinion, have no reason to cooperate with Navalny, because he is fighting against all of them. He calls on people not to go to the polls, not to vote for opposition candidates, and he hopes that after that they will cooperate with him? Concerning public chambers, then we have them completely under the control of the authorities, and they will do everything to hide the violations, and not expose them. Navalny will not have any observers; these people have no personal motivation to ensure the integrity of the elections.

There is a counter on Navalny’s website that is constantly updated. Currently, more than 20 thousand people have completed applications for observer status. The headquarters will also be assisted in training observers by such organizations as “Golos”, “Citizen Observer” and “SONAR”, Levshits said about this: “We are very grateful to these organizations for their help. But, for example, “Golos” is an “institute”, there are teachers there. But they don’t have students. We found them."

It is also possible to have the broadest powers of an observer, that is, to be present during the vote counting, if you have accreditation from the media. Levshits says that the headquarters already has temporary accreditations from the Leviathan newspaper (a project of the Anti-Corruption Foundation).

Head of the election monitoring department of the “Voice” movement Andrey Buzin notes that the main snag here is whether Navalny’s supporters will have time to get temporary IDs:

— In 2015, the requirements for funds became more stringent mass media. They introduced a strict accreditation requirement that a person who is a media representative work there for at least two months before the elections and that he has a contract. Next, the accreditation certificate must be confirmed by the Central Election Commission.

Called Navalny's network of observers a type of civic education project political scientist Gleb Pavlovsky.

— This project is literally neither political as a special demonstration of opposition, nor a purely electoral observation. This is such a massive civic action to attract people to show what is happening next to them in these so-called elections. This point is more important than the number of falsifications that observers will be able to see. It seems to me that in this sense, this project may be similar in its consequences to the movement of observers during the 2011 Duma elections, which was spontaneous and spontaneous. Then a lot of people came to the polling stations for the first time and were horrified by what they saw there. This is extremely important project for civil society.