{"id":4506,"date":"2021-09-22T01:23:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T01:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/when-it-works-in-2020-tomsk-was-the-only-place-in-russia-where-smart-vote-propelled-candidates-to-a-city-council-majority-heres-what-happened-in-the-year-that-followed.html"},"modified":"2021-09-22T01:23:02","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T01:23:02","slug":"when-it-works-in-2020-tomsk-was-the-only-place-in-russia-where-smart-vote-propelled-candidates-to-a-city-council-majority-heres-what-happened-in-the-year-that-followed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/when-it-works-in-2020-tomsk-was-the-only-place-in-russia-where-smart-vote-propelled-candidates-to-a-city-council-majority-heres-what-happened-in-the-year-that-followed.html","title":{"rendered":"When it works In 2020, Tomsk was the only place in Russia where \u2018Smart Vote\u2019 propelled candidates to a city-council majority. Here\u2019s what happened in the year that followed."},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"EmbedBlock-module_root__28k9U EmbedBlock-module_cc__1BQ5g EmbedBlock-module_full__1TEjx EmbedBlock-module_desktop__SF5a_ EmbedBlock-module_proportional__3lAv4\">Andrey Pertsev \/ Meduza<\/figure>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_lead__35nXx  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">During the 2020 Tomsk City Duma election, candidates endorsed by Team Navalny\u2019s \u201cSmart Vote\u201d initiative won unequivocally. Despite the fact that most of them were previously little-known, Smart Vote-backed candidates won 19 out of the 27 single-mandate constituencies, while candidates from the ruling party, United Russia, won 11 out of 37 seats in the Tomsk City Duma overall. For comparison, in the same electoral race in 2015, United Russia won in 25 constituencies and received 30 seats in the Duma. On the eve of the 2021 elections to the Tomsk City and Regional Dumas, Meduza special correspondent Andrey Pertsev traveled to Tomsk to see how the results of last year\u2019s election changed the city\u2019s political situation. There, he discovered that the Communist Party had begun using bolder slogans and nominating younger candidates, while United Russia took a new approach, interacting more with voters and even venturing into social media. Meanwhile, the opposition candidates ultimately failed to coordinate on any joint action.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cChange without revolution\u201d reads a billboard advertising the political party A Just Russia (SR) in the Tomsk region. Campaign materials from the Party of Growth come in both bright communist red and a red-and-white theme that evokes the Belarusian protest movement, and their slogan is short and sweet: \u201cChange!\u201d Meanwhile, Communist Party (KPRF) billboards call the party the \u201cleader of the protest,\u201d adding that \u201cthere\u2019s no alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Right across from the Tomsk Regional Administration building, the Communists have put up a giant poster depicting a syringe labeled \u201cKPRF\u201d piercing the rear of the bear from United Russia\u2019s party logo. \u201cVaccination against unpatriotic laws,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">In the 2020 municipal elections, United Russia proved unable to reach a majority in the City Duma: the ruling party won only 11 out of 37 seats, losing most constituencies to candidates backed by Smart Vote. During this year\u2019s elections, voters chose not only State Duma deputies but also regional parliamentarians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Heading into the elections, the opposition was hoping for a repeat of 2020. The Communist Party seemed to be the most active campaigner in Tomsk. The city was full of KPRF billboards and signs; in addition to the aforementioned slogans and bear with a syringe, they also used the phrase \u201cYoung and strong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">The Tomsk Communists differed from their KPRF colleagues from other regions both in their edgy protest rhetoric and in the types of candidates they put forward. Among them were City Duma deputy Maxim Zabelin, a popular housing rights activist; business owner Maxim Luchshev; and city bus service owner Yelena Pul.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">The KPRF\u2019s Tomsk headquarters is led by young Tomsk City Duma deputy Vladimir Cholakhyan, who defeated one of United Russia\u2019s most high-status candidates, Tomsk water utility director Kirill Novozhilov, in 2020.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"SimpleBlock-module_h3__2Kv7Y  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\"><strong>\u2018All it took was one reasonable candidate\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">The Communist line up took a hit before the elections even began: the city electoral commission forced Maxim Zabelin to withdraw from the race over his alleged ties to Alexey Navalny\u2019s team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cPurely bureaucratically speaking, I had no connection to the organization, but I do know the coordinators, and I\u2019ve been in touch with [former Team Navalny staffer, City Duma deputy, and self-nominated candidate] Ksenia Fadeyeva for more than 10 years. They read through my interviews and found that I supported her, that I wrote on her social media pages in 2018 and 2019, and they put it all together, and\u2026\u201d Zabelin said, throwing up his hands.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"EmbedBlock-module_root__28k9U EmbedBlock-module_cc__1BQ5g EmbedBlock-module_default__LSDny\"><iframe class=\"lazyload\" id=14-3582c358aef0fcffe4704382af0087c3548e6c89647b88d868f336f6c08e86bd frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Zabelin is confident he could\u2019ve beat his main opponent in his constituency, United Russia candidate and factory director Daniil Ryabchenko, who\u2019s new in town. \u201cFrom simple sociology, you can tell I was winning the constituency \u2014 I have direct access to 2,000 voters through chats, and 4,500 is enough to win,\u201d Zabelin explained. According to him, the area used to be considered United Russia territory, but \u201cas soon as one reasonable candidate appeared, that was all she wrote.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Despite being forced to withdraw from the race, Zabelin continued campaigning for the KPRF and promised to put his support behind one of the remaining candidates, although he admitted there weren\u2019t any great choices. \u201cThe parties saw that me and Ryabchenko were both running, so they didn\u2019t run any of their strong candidates. Other than the New People party, nobody [was] running a campaign,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Zabelin was one of the beneficiaries of the Smart Vote system in Tomsk\u2019s 2020 City Duma election. In that race, United Russia only captured 24.5 percent of the vote, winning eight out of 27 single-mandate constituencies (while Smart Vote-backed candidates, who were either self-nominated or from various non-United Russia parties, took 19 constituencies).<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">One of that election\u2019s most striking moments was when 25-year-old KPRF candidate Vladimir Cholakhyan beat high-status United Russia candidate Kirill Novozhilov, director of the city\u2019s water utility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cThis is my home district. Kashtak. At first, everyone laughed at me: \u2018Running against Novozhilov as a 25-year-old is suicide!\u2019 But I knew I didn\u2019t have any other option \u2014 this is where my relatives live, my friends, my classmates. The first thought I had was that I needed to go to every apartment, ideally multiple times. The party helped me out: we printed a booklet and headed out. It was physically and emotionally tiring \u2014 you\u2019re introducing yourself to voters, and you just graduated college,\u201d Cholakhyan told Meduza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">He considered Smart Vote\u2019s support \u201csignificant.\u201d \u201cIt was a big risk they took. A young guy, no name recognition \u2014 and to be frank, when you\u2019re Armenian, your last name alone can lose you votes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Even United Russia has acknowledged the influence of Smart Vote on the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cAs far as the Tomsk City Duma election results, it [Smart Vote] probably did partially work, but in that election cycle in the country overall, in other regions, of course, it didn\u2019t work. The opposition has simply added Tomsk to its flag,\u201d said Tomsk City Duma deputy and State Duma candidate Ilya Leontyev, who represents United Russia. \u201cBut is it smart? Emotional? Yes! Rebellious? Without a doubt! In some places, you might call it \u2018communist\u2019; in others, \u2018Yabloko-like\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"EmbedBlock-module_root__28k9U EmbedBlock-module_cc__1BQ5g EmbedBlock-module_default__LSDny\"><iframe class=\"lazyload\" id=23-4c6f3f1c48f2b6f6a323de0bec88533224c764ab5eca95c4a773de2c61af7c1f frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">According to Leontyev, the voting initiative\u2019s success in the Tomsk City Duma election can be explained by several factors. \u201cThe questions people had for the majority party had been accumulating, and the party either didn\u2019t have answers or wasn\u2019t communicating them. Now, the deputies have social media accounts, and not every answer has to be beaten out of them. It\u2019s a trend of the times, although I was already saying it was necessary five years ago. Our candidates just weren\u2019t reaching their voters. If you take a look at the results, you can identify two or three unconditional victories [for the opposition], while in all other cases, there was a difference of 20-70 votes. In other words, it would have been possible to get to those voters and change their minds,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">From Maxim Zabelin\u2019s perspective, the city\u2019s anti-authority streak at that time also played a large role: taxes were increasing, and they were only being spent on the city center, not the suburbs or rural areas, making it difficult to keep the budget in order. \u201cIt\u2019s a mess \u2014 all the utilities, the roads. It\u2019s impossible to make the city\u2019s economy function on this budget, and while some of the money returns in the form of national projects, it\u2019s only pennies. The city is constantly being dug up because of accidents and the monopoly of the companies managing things. This kind of fiscal code, this spending that only helps the center, that\u2019s what makes people vote against United Russia,\u201d said Zabelin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Ksenia Fadeyeva, the former leader of Navalny\u2019s Tomsk campaign office, is confident that Alexey Navalny\u2019s visit to the city was an important factor behind Smart Vote\u2019s success in 2020 \u2014 the same year Navalny was poisoned, and the same year his investigative video about United Russia\u2019s representatives in Tomsk was released.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cAbsolutely everyone in Tomsk watched the film. I would see people watching it on the trolleybus. The film was in every building\u2019s group chat, where people usually discuss where to buy strollers and what sports clubs to send their kids to. They discussed the investigation, which included a message about registering for Smart Vote. After the video came out, registration went up 100 percent. After that, Navalny\u2019s poisoning mobilized the part of the protest electorate that usually stays home,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cAt that moment, after the poisoning, things were supercharged,\u201d said KPRF State Duma candidate and journalist Vasily Shipilov of the reasons for Smart Vote\u2019s success in 2020.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Igor Lyutayev, another opposition candidate to the City Duma (previously self-nominated, he ran on the Yabloko ticket despite not being a member himself), called the 2020 municipal campaign results a \u201cpeople\u2019s victory.\u201d \u201cSome voted for a communist, some voted for Yabloko, and some voted for United Russia, and the real winner was not the opposition but pluralism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cFor several years, voter turnout was declining. People were writing on social media, saying, \u2018Vote or don\u2019t vote, it doesn\u2019t matter! Everything is already decided.\u201d But people came from the other side and voted \u2014 some of them according to Smart Vote, others not according to Smart Vote, but they voted,\u201d said Lyutayev.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">A source from United Russia\u2019s federal office named several factors that, in his opinion, contributed to Smart Vote\u2019s success: \u201cThe effect of Navalny\u2019s poisoning, weak administrative resources in the area, and low voter turnout among the regional administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"SimpleBlock-module_h3__2Kv7Y  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\"><strong>An open-door Duma<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Despite the opposition\u2019s obviously stronger numbers \u2014 11 United Russia candidates against 26 candidates from other parties \u2014 United Russia candidate Chingis Akatayev was elected Regional Duma deputy in the 2020 election. KPRF candidate Andrey Petrov was assumed to have majority support among the deputies, but he withdrew from the race the day before the vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cFrom what we understand, he was pressured,\u201d said deputy Ksenia Fadeyeva. After Petrov withdrew, the other opposition deputies agreed to support Fadeyev, but she didn\u2019t have enough votes to win: Akatayev drew support from members of the LDPR, the Party of Growth, New People, and some KPRF members.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">City Duma deputy and opposition supporter Igor Lyutayeva was extremely disappointed by the KPRF deputies\u2019 votes in support of Akatayev. \u201cAfter everything with the speaker elections, I\u2019m not sure about the KPRF anymore \u2014 and I don\u2019t know what it will take for them to gain my trust again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">The Duma\u2019s new members were able to make some changes to the body, according to several of Meduza\u2019s sources. \u201cAll of the Duma\u2019s decisions have been made in a collegial manner \u2014 for example, we decreased the operations budget from 18 million [rubles] [$248,000] to 10 million [rubles] [$137,000] and redirected the money to school renovations. We allocated money for road repair to the second category. Plus, the Duma became open to Tomsk residents \u2014 every deputy has social media, you can write to deputies on Telegram, even the United Russia deputies have it,\u201d said Maxim Zabelin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">According to Ksenia Fadeyeva, United Russia members really did start behaving differently. \u201cMany of them started Telegram channels, Instagram accounts, and they\u2019re trying to be more accountable for their work. They don\u2019t want to be caught with their pants down by the opposition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">At the same time, members of the opposition have good things to say about speaker Chingis Akatayev. KPRF deputy Vladimir Cholakhyan voted for Fadeyeva, but now praises her victorious opponent. \u201cHe\u2019s definitely not an establishment guy, he\u2019s a clear thinker \u2014 he always gives good ideas a fair shake. If Fadeyeva\u2019s suggestion is better than a United Russia deputy\u2019s, he\u2019ll support her. Akatayev behaves as a speaker ought to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"EmbedBlock-module_root__28k9U EmbedBlock-module_cc__1BQ5g EmbedBlock-module_default__LSDny\"><iframe class=\"lazyload\" id=41-1fc53674af23a193f4dbeedb5f899b6514236d5bfd6181baa04c34d16d54227e frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">In addition to being a city deputy, Cholakhyan led the KPRF\u2019s electoral headquarters \u2014 but he didn\u2019t run in the elections himself. But in his home constituency, which includes the Kashtak district, his brother Vard had his name on the ballot. Vladimir himself had no desire to leave the City Duma, because he intends to fulfill the promises he made to voters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cThe people who voted for me don\u2019t ask anything of me \u2014 they support me in conversation and on social media and that\u2019s it. The requests come from people who voted and continue to vote for United Russia, and then I hear that, after something gets resolved by means of their message, there\u2019s something else they don\u2019t like,\u201d said Cholyakhin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">KPRF candidates also used his method \u2014 personally going door-to-door. One such candidate was Vasily Shipilov, a locally famous journalist and blogger who ran for the State Duma in constituency No. 181. At the beginning of his interview with Meduza, Shipilov emphasized his non-partisanship, adding that there were a lot of non-partisan candidates running on the Communist ticket in this election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">The situation in constituency No. 181 was a bit unusual: in last year\u2019s campaign, United Russia didn\u2019t nominate a candidate, so LDPR State Duma deputy Alexey Didenko was considered the pro-government candidate; Didenko\u2019s father is the head of the closed city Seversk and belongs to United Russia. In this year\u2019s race, the party ran its own a candidate: City Duma deputy Ilya Leontyev.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">According to Vasily Shipilov, local United Russia officials initially wanted to nominate Tomsk regional senator Boris Kravchenko, an extremely well-known figure. But at the last minute, he made an announcement telling people not to vote for him. Leontyev is a less famous figure, but in the run-up to the elections he led a strong and far-reaching campaign. A source close to United Russia told Meduza that Leontyev has strong connections to the party\u2019s executive committee. In his campaign materials, Leontyev doesn\u2019t hide his affiliation with the \u201cparty of power.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"EmbedBlock-module_root__28k9U EmbedBlock-module_cc__1BQ5g EmbedBlock-module_default__LSDny\"><iframe class=\"lazyload\" id=47-4785bd0bbf7a2fc3046967b93abe998af7c9e68d9fc8af730eba8ff244878072 frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cI don\u2019t hide anything \u2014 I tell people I was nominated by the party organization, I tell them why they did it. I explain that it helped me achieve what I couldn\u2019t achieve on my own. It\u2019s also important to talk about why certain things don\u2019t work out. Last year, the regional administration earmarked 4.5 billion rubles ($62 million) for fighting coronavirus, and this money didn\u2019t come out of thin air \u2014 it meant less infrastructure maintenance, fewer roads. I tell people: \u2018Let\u2019s talk about it, what would you do in this situation?\u2019,\u201d said Leontyev.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">One of the main parts of Leontyev\u2019s platform is the redistribution of budget revenue to the suburbs, not the federal center. Meduza\u2019s correspondent didn\u2019t hear the candidate criticize the communists specifically, but there\u2019s a popular clip on social media that shows Leontyev asking Pavel Grudinin why he didn\u2019t lay flowers at the cross in honor of the victims of political repression in Kashtak district. Grudinin is silent, and then KPRF member and State Duma deputy Yuri Afonin answers in his place. The video has been played countless times on pro-government media outlets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cI had a question for him and I asked it \u2014 some people like that, some people don\u2019t. It\u2019s good to ask politicians uncomfortable questions sometimes. You don\u2019t think they ask me hard questions, too? I answer them,\u201d Ilya Leontyev told Meduza.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"EmbedBlock-module_root__28k9U EmbedBlock-module_cc__1BQ5g EmbedBlock-module_default__LSDny\"><iframe class=\"lazyload\" id=51-b46eca3175ac59952e8f829ffe7562dc392ad7cdf40e9641df1fd2b24bc8e709 frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Vasily Shipilov believed he had a shot at victory due to the competition between two effectively pro-government candidates [Leontyev and Didenko], who were vying for the same electorate. \u201cBut it\u2019s not my electorate \u2014 my voters are protesters and Communists, and here the party is giving me more than I\u2019m giving it,\u201d he told Meduza.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"SimpleBlock-module_h3__2Kv7Y  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\"><strong>\u2018Miracles aren\u2019t going to happen again\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Igor Lyutayev, a City Duma deputy who was running for both the Tomsk Regional Duma and the State Duma on the Yabloko ticket, had some qualms with the Smart Vote approach, which entails supporting whatever candidate has the most active supporters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cIn my view, Smart Vote is a powerful force, and its weight is massive. Last year showed us that it can be a positive thing. But on the other hand, last year, there were offices [Navalny\u2019s regional headquarters] that could evaluate the most active and popular candidates. But how will they do that now \u2014 how visible is the situation to them from the sidelines? How will they choose \u2014 by the amount of money a candidate has, or what? In that case, they won\u2019t have the same success they had last year, because it\u2019s not the same thing, just to choose the candidates that spend more on campaigning,\u201d said Lyutayev.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"EmbedBlock-module_root__28k9U EmbedBlock-module_cc__1BQ5g EmbedBlock-module_default__LSDny\"><iframe class=\"lazyload\" id=56-d928c31a3cebc4a5b1782230ede5e8f22bca02f5f2965ef130af156fa187f653 frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">According to him, Yabloko spent a total of 300,000 rubles ($4,110) on campaigning for the entire region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Meanwhile, there was a serious competition underway in constituency No. 3. In addition to Lyutayev and United Russia\u2019s candidate, both Galina Nemtseva (A Just Russia) and Yelena Pul (KPRF) conducted dynamic campaigns. The situation looked similar in many other constituencies, too: acting city deputies elected last year with Smart Vote\u2019s help competed against candidates from the Communist Party and others. For example, in constituency No. 9, a Smart Vote-backed incumbent deputy ran against self-nominated candidate Denis Yarmosh, KPRF candidate Pavel Yudenko, and locally-famous activist Konstantin Cherenkov (Party of Growth).<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">\u201cNobody has come to any agreements, that wouldn\u2019t be possible \u2014 there are a bunch of stories and contradictions floating around,\u201d said City Duma deputy Ksenia Fadeyeva.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">In her personal opinion, it\u2019s vital to take into account the costs of running an election campaign. \u201cA City Duma constituency contains 10,000 to 12,000 people; Regional Duma constituencies contain about 40,000 people on average; and State Duma constituencies contain hundreds of thousands. Miracles like last year\u2019s election \u2014 when a local activist could knock on doors, put up some campaign posters, and win \u2014 aren\u2019t going to happen again. Basically, you can\u2019t win a regional campaign without money. People might view United Russia candidates negatively, but they\u2019re not stupid either, they\u2019re conducting campaigns and they\u2019re well-funded,\u201d said Fadeyeva.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Anna Yudina from the election monitoring movement Golos told Meduza that in the lead-up to the vote, election observers began to receive signals that officials were pushing for at-home voting. \u201cThey\u2019re suggesting that loyal United Russian voters vote at home. It\u2019s a new technology \u2014 we didn\u2019t do this kind of thing [in Tomsk] before,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Another reason opposition members were expecting vote rigging was that regional electoral commission chairman Elman Yusubov, about whom all of Meduza\u2019s sources spoke positively, had been dismissed from his post. Yusubov himself named Deputy Governor for Domestic Policy Sergey Ilyinykh as the initiator of his dismissal. Ilyinykh\u2019s former subordinate, Rostislav Radzivill, was subsequently tapped to fill the position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Nevertheless, in days before the vote, Tomsk\u2019s opposition candidates expected to defeat United Russia. \u201cOur electorate is made up of voters who really weren\u2019t going to the polls before. Many of them went for the first time and then said, \u2018Cool, I voted for a candidate I know, and then he won,\u2019\u201d said Maxim Zabelin. He also believes his removal from the election will ultimately increase KPRF\u2019s share of the vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"SimpleBlock-module_p__Q3azD  SimpleBlock-module_center__2rjif\">Igor Lyutayev, while less of an optimist, also expected a healthy protest vote. \u201cThinking people don\u2019t have any inspiration right now \u2014 they\u2019re prepared to vote for anyone, just not United Russia,\u201d he said ahead of the elections. \u201cBut it\u2019s not that they\u2019re inspired, it\u2019s just that they\u2019re [feeling] put down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"DonatesTeaser-module_title__hs-yr\">We won\u2019t give up Because you\u2019re with us<\/h3>\n<p>I\u2019m with you, Meduza<\/p>\n<p class=\"MaterialNote-module_note_caption__1ezSo\">Story by <strong>Andrey Pertsev<\/strong>, reporting from Tomsk<\/p>\n<p class=\"MaterialNote-module_note_credit__PuFyX\">Translation by <strong>Sam Breazeale<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--noindex--><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/meduza.io\/en\/feature\/2021\/09\/21\/when-it-works\">Source<\/a><!--\/noindex--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrey Pertsev \/ Meduza During the 2020 Tomsk City Duma election, candidates endorsed by Team Navalny\u2019s \u201cSmart Vote\u201d initiative won unequivocally. Despite the fact that most of them were previously little-known, Smart Vote-backed candidates won 19 out of the 27 single-mandate constituencies, while candidates from the ruling party, United Russia, won 11 out of 37 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news-from-russia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When it works In 2020, Tomsk was the only place in Russia where \u2018Smart Vote\u2019 propelled candidates to a city-council majority. Here\u2019s what happened in the year that followed. - Learn Russian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mediateka.online\/learnrussian\/when-it-works-in-2020-tomsk-was-the-only-place-in-russia-where-smart-vote-propelled-candidates-to-a-city-council-majority-heres-what-happened-in-the-year-that-followed.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When it works In 2020, Tomsk was the only place in Russia where \u2018Smart Vote\u2019 propelled candidates to a city-council majority. 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