Russian authorities are pulling out all the stops to get people to vote to allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in office until 2036.
, has dismissed the vote as illegitimate, saying it doesn’t make sense to participate, even to vote against the amendments.
“Do you want to go and vote ‘no’? This strategy seems naive and a bit laughable to me. But if that’s what your heart wants, go and vote ‘no.’ The main thing is to not recognize [the vote’s legitimacy], because it’s a scam,” Navalny said on his YouTube channel. Navalny’s team has backed a strike by election workers who don’t want to risk contracting coronavirus at polling stations. But the strikers admit they haven’t gained much traction — an open letter has so far gathered a little over 500 signatures. In Moscow alone, there are about 2,000 workers, said Sergei Lebedev, who signed the letter, adding that he had expected more support.
The biggest problem vote organizers face is turnout — luring people to the polls after weeks of coronavirus lockdowns and at a time when public support for Putin is dwindling: In April and May, his traditionally high approval ratings reached an all-time low of 59%, according to the Levada Center.There also have been appeals to patriotism and even homophobia. One video used gay stereotypes to promote the message that, without the amendments, same-sex couples would be able to adopt children.
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