After its federal list was removed from the State Duma elections, “Yabloko” suggested that supporters refuse remote voting, come to the polling station on September 20, and spoil the ballot for party lists. The party called this strategy a “plan of conscience, peace, and civic responsibility” and said it could also be used in single-mandate districts if there is no “Yabloko” candidate there.
“Yabloko” reminded that a ballot is declared invalid if there are marks in more than one square. If no box is checked, according to the party, “there remains a risk that others will do this instead of you”.
The party also said that this applies to non-parliamentary parties as well — that is, parties not represented in the State Duma. “Yabloko” called them spoiler parties and said they are no different in principle from parliamentary parties.
According to “Yabloko”, it was precisely representatives of non-parliamentary parties who were used in this campaign to file lawsuits seeking the removal of the party’s candidates and lists from federal and regional elections. “Yabloko” recommends using the same scheme when voting in single-mandate districts if there is no party candidate there.
In early August, the Supreme Court of Russia removed “Yabloko’s” federal list from the State Duma elections. The reason was a lawsuit filed by the “Rodina” party, which accused “Yabloko” of copyright infringement and illegal payments for election campaigning.
In several regions, “Yabloko” was also not allowed to take part in regional elections. The party said it wants to get as many of its candidates as possible into the State Duma through single-mandate districts, and also to secure the passage of lists into the legislative assemblies of the Novgorod and Tomsk regions.
In addition, “Yabloko” hopes to elect deputies to the legislative assemblies of Saint Petersburg, Karelia, Sverdlovsk, Pskov, Novgorod, and Kaliningrad regions. This refers to candidates in single-mandate districts in those regions where the party continues to take part in the campaign.
Sources
