OPINION: As Russia’s Presidential Election Looms, Kremlin Machine Gears Up to Get Right Result
Kyiv PostMar 14
The Facts
Russia votes in the country's presidential elections between Friday and Sunday. Polling stations opened in the eastern region of Kamchatka at 8 a.m. local time on March 15, and will close at 8 p.m. in Kaliningrad on March 17.
In theory, Vladimir Putin, Vladislav Davankov, Leonid Slutsky, and Nikolay Kharitonov are headlining the election. Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) chair Ella Pamfilova has claimed that approximately 2.6M cast their ballots during the early voting period.
The Spin
Anti-Russia narrative
Putin's victory in Russia's illegitimate election is inevitable and will be used as a propaganda tool against all those who seek to undermine Moscow's regime. However, despite the foregone conclusion, there's widespread acceptance that discontent with Putin is growing. Unfortunately, while this will likely only lead to further electoral coercion, minimal popular turnout and dissatisfaction cannot be ignored forever.
Pro-Russia narrative
Russia's three-day voting period allows all citizens ample opportunity to exercise their democratic rights. This year also sees new and innovative means of voting, such as via QR codes and other electronic means. Like all previous elections, the Russian electoral commission will continue to monitor the process and ensure once again that the people's voice is legitimately heard. Western accusations against the Kremlin will be proven baseless once again through this process.
Nerd narrative
There is a 50% chance that Vladimir Putin will cease to hold the office of President of Russia by March 2029, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
