"Atlas of Elections" has published the Index of (Un)Freedom of Gubernatorial Elections: what is it?

The team of independent experts from the “Election Atlas” project has presented the 2025 Index of (Un)freedom of Gubernatorial Elections — it shows how freely one can exercise the right to vote and to be elected in elections for heads of regions.

How the Index of (Un)freedom of Elections is calculated

We consider that each region starts with a notional 10 points. Points are deducted for restrictions on the freedom of expression of will, depending on the seriousness of the violation.

For example, we consider the most serious factor to be the absence of real competitors to the incumbent head of the region already at the candidate nomination stage — for this a region immediately loses half of the points awarded.

If at least one opponent was nominated but not registered, the region loses two points. And if an opponent passed the registration stage but cannot offer real competition due to a lack of resources, we deduct one point.

The rating also takes into account the creation of conditions for coercing voters and/or falsifications on voting days, as well as restrictions on observation opportunities (for example, the presence of REV or multi-day voting) and pressure by security forces on parties, candidates and the media. 

In this Index we do not take into account the nationwide restrictions on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association, the existence of the municipal filter, regular shutdowns of mobile internet affecting the ability to campaign, etc., since these conditions exist across the whole country and do not reflect regional specifics. But they are worth bearing in mind when you look at the regions’ scores.

You can read more about the methodology for calculating the Index in the preface to our study.

What the 2025 Index of (Un)freedom of Gubernatorial Elections showed

The freest elections in 2025 should take place in Irkutsk Oblast — in our rating the region received 8 points out of a possible 10.

Second place went to Arkhangelsk Oblast with 7 points. In third is Sverdlovsk Oblast, which received 6 points. The Republic of Komi and the Republic of Tatarstan lost half of the points initially awarded, although in the case of Tatarstan even this assessment seems more like an inflated advance.

The remaining participants in the rating received less than half of the points. The worst situation is taking shape in Bryansk, Kursk and Leningrad oblasts — the regions can count on only 2 points of “freedom” out of 10.

In total, in 2025 citizens will elect governors in 20 regions.

Of course, our Index of (Un)freedom of Gubernatorial Elections is preliminary. Here we do not take into account factors that can only be assessed after the elections are over — for example, freedom of campaigning or the voting process itself. We will devote further research to these questions.