‘Horizontal Russia’ Lists Seven Steps Russian Voters Can Take to Limit Violations

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 4 – Noting that voting “is one of the few safe ways” for Russians to express their opinions about those in power and that rules governing elections have been violated in the past, the Horizontal Russia portal offers a list of seven steps Russian voters can take to limit such violations in the upcoming Duma elections.

            The eight, each of which is discussed in detail (semnasem.org/articles/2026/09/04/zashitit-svoj-golos), include:

1.     Vote in person at the polling place rather than online.

2.     Go the polls on the last day of voting rather than earlier.

3.     Ask for a new ballot if you make a mistake.

4.     Do not show your ballot to anyone once you have filled it in.

5.     Do not succumb to employer pressure as that is illegal.

6.     If you want to spoil your ballot, know in advance how to do it.

7.     Do not ignore violations at the polling place and know how to file complaints.

At a time when people in many countries are suspicious of how elections are carried out, it is intriguing to see that even in Russia, where violations by the authorities are typical and even expected, at least some people are trying to figure out how to act to make such violations harder and less common.