Russians voted yesterday in scattered regional ballots marred by complaints that opposition forces are being frozen out of the country's politics.
Although two mainstream parties and a smattering of smaller ones are on the ballot for legislatures in 14 of Russia's 86 regions, critics say the appearance of genuine pluralism is only superficial.
Many of the voters who turned out early yesterday morning in St. Petersburg, one of the election regions, expressed dismay that some parties had been barred from the ballot.
The liberal Yabloko party was not allowed on the ballot in Russia's second-largest city because electoral officials ruled that more than 10 percent of the signatures on the party's petition to enter the race were invalid.
The party says its appeals were thwarted even after people whose signatures were ruled invalid testified to their authenticity.
Vladimir Philimonov, a pensioner, said he was a lifelong Communist Party supporter but still felt "negative" about Yabloko not being allowed on the ballot.
"I think all parties should be allowed in the voting. If Yabloko took part, I think they could win very many votes," he said.
Yesterday's vote is seen as the opening of a year of elections that promise to be choreographed to ensure a smooth succession and enable President Vladimir Putin to keep a hand in the country's affairs after he steps down next year.
Barred by the Constitution from seeking a third straight term next March, Putin has strongly hinted he will choose a favored successor and continue to wield influence.
Yesterday's elections come amid more-restrictive electoral legislation, bureaucratic measures that have flummoxed opponents and kept them off some ballots, and a new party that casts itself as the opposition but that critics say is the servant of Putin's needs.
The new party, called Just Russia, is led by the speaker of parliament's upper house, Sergei Mironov, who showed his loyalty to Putin in 2004 by running against him for president and calling it a gesture of support.
How much support Just Russia receives in the regional elections could be a test of whether voters see it as a legitimate alternative to United Russia, the party that dominates the national parliament and that is seen as Putin's handmaiden.
Despite Putin's personal popularity, United Russia is widely seen as a group of greedy, corrupt politicians. Mironov's new faction aims to offer a less tainted but still Putin-friendly alternative.
Overall turnout in the regional elections could also be a telling gauge of whether Russians have faith in their political system or if apathy and dissatisfaction are setting in.
St. Petersburg this month saw one of the largest opposition demonstrations in years in Russia, which was violently dispersed by police.
Among the main complaints of the thousands of demonstrators was that beleaguered opposition parties were being blocked from the ballot.
"I got frustrated last week when I saw how police were breaking up the opposition march. I think Russia needs some strong opposition," said Anna Vyborova, a 33-year-old tour guide voting in St. Petersburg.
She said she voted for a Just Russia candidate because "the party, to my mind, presents at least some kind of opposition today."
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