The Campaign

By the end of October 2011, all seven legal political parties had been approved by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) to run in the December 4, 2011, Duma election. Additional election monitors from the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were also invited to participate. Golos criticized campaigning by the "popular front" that was not included in the spending limits of the United Russia Party and alleged that Russian security officials increasingly were harassing the NGO during the run-up to the election. The OSCE's preliminary report on the outcome of the election echoed many of the findings of Golos and other observers. The report judged that close ties between the Russian government and the ruling party, refusal to register political parties, pro-government bias of the electoral commissions and most media, and ballot-box stuffing and other government manipulation of the vote marked the election as not free and fair. On December 5, about 5,000 protesters held an authorized rally in central Moscow. When many of them began an unsanctioned march toward the CEC, police forcibly dispersed them, reportedly detaining hundreds, including some prominent dissidents. The Kremlin quickly mobilized pro-government Nashi and Young Guard youth groups to hold large demonstrations termed "clean victory" to press home their claim that minority groups would not be permitted to impose their will on the "majority" of the electorate. On December 10, 2011, demonstrations under the slogan "For Honest Elections!" were held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and dozens of other cities. At the rally, Boris Nemtsov, the co-head of the unregistered opposition Party of People's Freedom, issued a list of demands that included the ouster of the CEC head, the release of those detained for protesting and other "political prisoners," the registration of previously banned parties, and new Duma elections. Implications for U.S. The day after the Duma election, on December 5, 2011, Secretary of State Clinton stated that the United States has "serious concerns about the conduct of the elections," as detailed in the OSCE observers' preliminary report, including ballot-box stuffing. Many in Congress have had continuing concerns about democratization and human rights progress in Russia, as reflected in calls in recent foreign operations appropriations bills as well as other legislation and hearings for added Obama Administration attention to Russian democratization. On December 2, 2011, members of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe criticized a court action against Golos just days before the election, and on December 7 criticized the balloting as the "most controversial election in decades." The Commission also raised concerns about the detention of those protesting against what the Commission termed the flawed election. Also on December 7, Senators McCain, Joseph Lieberman, and Jeanne Shaheen issued a statement condemning Russian police crackdowns on those demonstrating against the "blatant fraud" of the Duma election and calling for their release. These challenges to Russia's democratic development likely will continue to be of concern to Congress and the Administration as they consider the course of U.S.-Russia cooperation on matters of mutual strategic interest and as they monitor problematic human rights cases. A major question of U.S.-Russia relations is whether Russia can be an enduring and reliable partner in international relations if it fails to uphold human rights and the rule of law.
Challenges to Russia's democratic development have long been of concern to Congress as it has considered the course of U.S.-Russia cooperation on matters of mutual strategic interest and as it has monitored problematic human rights cases. Most recently, elections for the 450-member Russian State Duma (lower legislative chamber) on December 4, 2011, have heightened concerns among some Members of Congress about whether Russia can be an enduring and reliable partner in international relations if it does not uphold human rights and the rule of law.
In the run-up to the December 2011 State Duma election, seven political parties were approved to run, although during the period since the last election in late 2007, several other parties had attempted to register for the election but were blocked from doing so. These actions had elicited criticism from the U.S. State Department that diverse political interests were not being fully represented. As election day neared, Russian officials became increasingly concerned that the ruling United Russia Party, which had held most of the seats in the outgoing Duma, was swiftly losing popular support. According to some observers, Russian authorities, in an attempt to prevent losses at the polls, not only used their positions to campaign for the party but also planned ballot-box stuffing and other illicit means to retain a majority of seats for the ruling party. In addition, Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had increasingly criticized election monitoring carried out by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and insisted on limiting the number of OSCE observers. Russian authorities also moved against one prominent Russian non-governmental monitoring group, Golos, to discourage its coverage of the election. According to the OSCE's preliminary report on the outcome of the election, the close ties between the Russian government and the ruling party, the refusal to register political parties, the pro-government bias of the electoral commissions and most media, and ballot-box stuffing and other government manipulation of the vote marked the election as not free and fair.
The day after the election, about 5,000 protesters rallied in central Moscow against what they viewed as a flawed election. When many of them began an unsanctioned march toward the Central Electoral Commission, police forcibly dispersed them, reportedly detaining hundreds. The Kremlin quickly mobilized pro-government youth groups to hold large demonstrations termed "clean victory" to press home their claim that minority groups would not be permitted to impose their will on the "majority" of the electorate. On December 7, 2011, several U.S. Senators issued a statement condemning Russian police crackdowns on those demonstrating against the "blatant fraud" of the Duma election. On December 10, large demonstrations under the slogan "For Honest Elections!" were held in Moscow and dozens of other cities. At the rally, Boris Nemtsov, the co-head of the unregistered opposition Party of People's Freedom, reflected popular sentiment with a list of demands that included the ouster of the head of the Central Electoral Commission, the release of those detained for protesting and other "political prisoners," the registration of previously banned parties, and new Duma elections.
Many observers have raised concerns that public unrest may continue, although security forces appear firmly in control and unlikely to permit the unrest to threaten the government. The Obama Administration has been critical of the apparently flawed Duma election, but has called for continued engagement with Russia on issues of mutual strategic concern. Some in Congress also have criticized the Duma election and the subsequent crackdown on protesters, and Congress may consider the implications of lagging democratization and human rights abuses as it considers possible future foreign assistance and trade legislation and other aspects of U.S.-Russia relations.