ABSTRACT
The Russian word for “election” – vybor – also means “choice”. Choice was one thing that Soviet voters did not have. Though there was no legal restriction on the number of candidates, in practice each electoral district had only one nomination. Strong mobilisation encouraged people to turn out to vote affirmatively. This chapter takes a middle road, accepting that many of the outcomes of Russian politics are determined by increasingly restrictive rules of the game, but examining how parties and voters behave within these rules. It outlines how national elections have evolved and examines the integrity of the process. Presidential elections are the most politically significant, but since the mid-1990s they have generally been fairly tame affairs. Elections are two-round nationwide contests. Over the post-Soviet period, the vibrancy of Russian democracy has diminished significantly, and the national electoral process has become increasingly consolidated and predictable.
