‘Golos’ summarized the nomination of candidates for the 2023 gubernatorial elections

The Movement in Defence of Voters' Rights, known as ‘Golos’, has released a report that details the preliminary phases of the gubernatorial election campaign, specifically the nomination and registration of candidates for the elections scheduled for 10 September 2023 in 21 regions. These regions include both Moscow and the Moscow region and have a combined population of 53.5 million, accounting for 36% of Russia’s total population.

The report’s main conclusion aligns with expert apprehensions: genuine competition between candidates is anticipated in only one region, the Republic of Khakassia, out of the 21. Nonetheless, this suggests that the prevailing regime doesn't wield absolute dominance over every region, and (relatively) unforeseen outcomes are still possible.

Key Statistics and Expert Insights

• Nearly one-fourth (24.2%) of all proposed candidates were disqualified during registration. The formal competition rate, consistent with 2021-2022, stood at 4.5 candidates per region. This underscores the orchestrated nature of the gubernatorial election competition.
• In the process of passing the ‘municipal filter’ (read more about what it is here), the most favorable conditions are created for candidates whose participation is approved by the current administration. ‘Golos’ has found evidence of collusion among political actors, the condition of which is the opposition's refusal to genuinely compete for power.
• The existing party system falls short in meeting voters’ aspirations for representation in the gubernatorial elections. This year, only 12 out of the 27 registered parties will engage in the regional leadership elections. Among the regions where the elections are set to occur, more than 50% will feature candidates from just four parliamentary parties: United Russia, LDPR, CPRF, and Just Russia. Numerous ‘opposition’ candidates are nominated in coordination with the ruling party, making them essentially non-competitive. The New People party, holding its parliamentary party status for the second year, is essentially absent from the gubernatorial elections, having nominated only six candidates, five of whom were approved by Kremlin.
• The ‘spoiler’ party for the CPRF, Communists of Russia, nominated nine candidates, eight of whom were successfully registered. Communists of Russia is becoming one of the Kremlin’s main tools in its fight against the CPRF.
• For the current year, the practice of self-nomination has been phased out. Whereas some regions still permit self-nomination, it doesn’t provide a tangible pathway to election participation. Of the 10 individuals who self-nominated in 2023, none of them have gone so far as to get registered. This clearly underscores the reduced scope for citizens to utilize their passive voting rights.

A Silver Lining

Remarkably, for the first time in recent years, one region is witnessing a fiercely competitive electoral campaign. This is occurring in the Republic of Khakassia (population of 500,000), where a candidate from United Russia is pitted against the incumbent governor from CPRF. The Kremlin is deeply concerned about the potential defeat of its candidate and is taking extensive measures to thwart the possible CPRF victory - such as facilitating the registration of a ‘spoiler’ candidate from the Communists of Russia party. Nonetheless, the electoral outcome in Khakassia remains uncertain.

For an in-depth analysis of the nomination results and the case of Khakassia, read the full version of the report (in English).