Spoiled elections: The BBC dissects the dirty tactics used to demoralize voters on both wings of Russia’s ‘systemic’ opposition

Hopelessness and disgust. That is the mission of Russia's latest batch of "spoiler" candidates and electioneering, according to a new report by BBC Russia correspondent Elizaveta Fokht. The main targets of these "dark technologies" in the September 2021 races are politicians nominated by the (left-wing) Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), the (right-wing) Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and the democratic opposition party Yabloko. Candidates from Just Russia and the ruling party United Russia have been mysteriously spared. While many of the stunts performed throughout this summer's campaigns seem like smear attempts, experts told Fokht that Russia's spoilers actually hope to discourage swing voters from participating at all. Original Article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/09/09/spoiled-elections