We received this text from a person who could be described as an election observation organiser in one of the Volga region territories. We decided to publish it with the author's consent as a testimony of the past elections.

A transparent procedure is set out in detail in the law, and any departure from it is a violation of the law in itself and, at the same time, a signal: the commission is creating conditions in which more serious violations can be concealed.

What is international observation and how does it work

Throughout Russia's recent history, a broad arsenal of falsification technologies has been used in elections.

And on attempts to reform election observation in Russia

The authorities tested the system, gradually making it impervious to independent observation, and expanded the geography of its use, so that in the coming years internet voting may completely displace ordinary paper ballots.

the authorities have finally achieved what they were aiming for when they launched the video-monitoring game in 2012: a pretty picture with a complete absence of substance

Russia has travelled a path from blocking individual resources to centralised traffic management, mobile internet shutdowns and “white lists” where not the entire internet works, but only what the state has permitted to remain switched on.

Over the course of more than ten years, Russia has built a full-fledged legal and administrative system for governing the internet.

The goal was a noble one — to exclude from the electoral process those participants who lack genuine voter support.

Over the past two-plus decades, Russian legislation has gradually turned campaigning from a form of political communication into a complex bureaucratic procedure.

Since 2002, when the framework law on elections was adopted, the requirements for campaigning in Russia have been growing increasingly complex.

The safest way to ensure that no uncontrollable people make their way into elected bodies is to sterilise the ballot paper against them from the very outset.

In Russian elections, some participants are forced to constantly prove their right to campaign, while others conduct theirs under the cover of the administrative machine, budgetary support and a loyal media landscape.

Russian politics over the past twenty-five years has been about regulating the party system to suit the regime’s changing needs

After a number of social networks were banned in 2022, the opposition's campaigning opportunities shrank substantially, while the risks increased.

In Russia, equality of opportunity in campaigning is absent due to the selective application of legislation

An opposition candidate spends energy not only on persuading the voter, but also on fighting for the very ability to campaign

Five most dangerous legislative initiatives for environmental protection regulation

We are beginning a series of publications on the degradation of Russian electoral legislation over the past five years

On 25 March the composition of Russia's Central Election Commission changed; 12 of the CEC's 15 members were reappointed.