ELECTIONS in Russia have long ceased to be a contest for power or a competition between ideas. Instead they play the role of a plebiscite for the Kremlin and United Russia—a special-purpose vehicle designed by Russia’s rulers to ensure that they stay in power.
With the exception of the toothless Communists, all the parties in the Duma are integral parts of the political system set up by the Kremlin. Elections, like much of politics in Russia, are an imitation of the real thing. But the regional polls on March 13th deserve some attention, not least because they are seen as a dress rehearsal for a parliamentary vote in December and a presidential election the following March.
The general outcome was no surprise. United Russia, which has the entire Russian bureaucracy at its disposal, grabbed 70% of all seats in the 12 legislatures that held elections. Yet in terms of votes, the party did worse than in the previous parliamentary election, in 2007. It won over half the votes in only three regions. In the economically depressed region of Kirov, it received little over one-third.
