It can be tough work to continue coming up with new ways to fake the democratic process … after a while, the voters seem to wonder “why bother?”  Today, in Sochi, all eyes are on the mayoral election, which has been strongly tilted toward the United Russia candidate once again.  From the Washington Post:

In an interview, Nemtsov compared the tactics being used against him to those of Hitler’s propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels. “Now we have the same here under Putin’s Russia,” he said.

Nemtsov, a Sochi native, said the authorities have detained his campaign workers, seized his leaflets and prevented him from renting facilities for events. Last month, unidentified assailants threw ammonia in his face outside his campaign headquarters; he says they were activists from the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi.

Local media have refused to accept advertising from any of the
opposition candidates or cover their campaign events. In addition to
the 20-minute documentary on Nemtsov, though, they have broadcast
footage purporting to prove that he took money in exchange for shifting
the Olympics to South Korea.

“This is Sochi’s dirtiest election ever,” said Yuri Dzagania, the candidate of the Communist Party. (…)

“This is the first serious attempt from one of the liberal
politicians to try to play a serious role in any regional or municipal
election in Russia,” said Rostislav Turovsky, head of regional studies
at the Center for Political Technologies. “This election will show that
a lot of people do not support United Russia and its candidate.”

Last 5 posts by Robert Amsterdam

• Grigory Pasko: Journalists Are Fleeing Russia - November 20th, 2009
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• Yurgens: A Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is no picnic for Russia - November 20th, 2009