Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Monday, August 15, 2011

Campaigning without a permit

People in the US often note how difficult it is to meet all the legal requirements to vote (compared to the procedures in other liberal democracies). What would they say about the requirements for campaigning in Russia?

Russia Arrests a Gadfly Over Some Simple Advice for Voters
Russian law prohibits campaigning for any candidate without a permit. So Boris Y. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and frequent government gadfly, tested its limits in St. Petersburg on Sunday by handing out fliers that did not support any candidate.

The fliers said, “Vote against everybody.”

The police were not amused.

They arrested him, charged him with illegal agitation, which is punishable by a fine, and confiscated his fliers.

Mr. Nemtsov, whose subversive political stunts have landed him in police custody many times, called the arrest “absurd.” He said it proved the government had no intention of allowing unfettered political expression ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections this fall and next spring…

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