Experience of 'Smart Voting' in Russia; A Strategy for Uniting Opponents in Elections

Many recognize Alexei Navalny, the most well-known opponent of Vladimir Putin in Russia, who mysteriously died in prison at the end of last year, as an anti-corruption activist, and less attention has been paid to his efforts to create coordination among the opponents of the Russian government in the electoral arena. Navalny's activities since 2008 against widespread corruption in various areas of the Russian government, especially against Vladimir Putin himself, have made him a familiar face and name not only in Russia but around the world. Meanwhile, the invention and initiative of 'Smart Voting' by Navalny and his associates outlined a new level of cooperation among the opponents of the Russian government. Smart Voting was a strategy initiated by opponents of the 'United Russia' party, the ruling party in Russia, in 2019 to increase their chances of victory in a non-democratic electoral system. This mechanism helped voters opposing the government in Russia identify and support candidates who had the best chance of defeating the ruling 'United Russia' party, regardless of their party affiliations. This mechanism, introduced by Navalny and his associates, initially operated online in 2019 and later through a mobile application, advising voters on which candidates to vote for in each electoral district to maximize the chances of defeating government-supported candidates. Here, we examine the concept of Smart Voting, its emergence, implementation, and impact on elections in Russia. However, mentioning this topic does not overlook the significant campaign by Navalny and his associates against corruption in Russia. The arrest of one of the activists of the 'Smart Voting' campaign during a protest in August 2021 in Moscow is an example of Navalny's campaign against corruption in Russia, highlighted by the video report 'Putin's Palace,' in which the Russian president was accused of building a lavish palace on the Black Sea coast using illicit financial resources. This controversial report by Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation regarding Vladimir Putin's mysterious assets was released two days after Navalny's return to Russia and his arrest on January 19, 2021, stating that the $1.37 billion cost of building this palace was funded by 'the largest bribe in history.' The video quickly garnered over 110 million views. According to a Levada Center poll in February 2021, at least 26% of Russian citizens saw it. However, Russian government officials denied the content of this video report. Alongside anti-corruption activities, what Navalny and his associates proposed as 'Smart Voting' in 2018 was a significant achievement for reducing divisions within the groups opposing the Russian government during participation in elections against the ruling 'United Russia' party. 'Smart Voting' is an example of an initiative that created a collective mechanism among the opponents of the Russian government, providing a 'bridge' for collective action among the opponents of the status quo in the country through participation in non-democratic elections. Although the Russian government has tried by any means possible to disrupt and nullify the effectiveness of 'Smart Voting' since the local elections in 2019, what Navalny and his associates proposed with 'Smart Voting' can be a solution and practice for 'tolerance' and 'cooperation' among the opponents of the status quo to change conditions. Opponents who themselves are diverse groups with varying and even conflicting views can agree on efforts to change conditions based on a neutral mechanism. How did Smart Voting begin? Following the disqualification of candidates in elections in Russia, Alexei Navalny proposed the idea of 'Smart Voting' on November 28, 2018, to coordinate the opponents of the Russian government and defeat the ruling 'United Russia' party. The goal of 'Smart Voting' is to help citizens unite around candidates who oppose the 'United Russia' party and have a higher chance of winning in elections. Using this mechanism, such candidates can effectively compete against the candidates of the ruling party. Eligible voters identified their preferred candidates in an online process, and based on these results, voters were advised through a 'website' or Telegram social network on which candidates in each electoral district had a higher chance of winning. If elections were held in multi-seat districts, such as St. Petersburg, voters could receive a list of candidates corresponding to the number of seats in that electoral district. The initial results of 'Smart Voting' were first used in the local and city council elections on September 8, 2019, in Russia. In the Moscow city council elections, although the ruling party managed to maintain its majority, for the first time, the opposition was able to secure 20 out of 45 seats in this council, a success that had been unprecedented since the early 2000s. The election results in St. Petersburg also indicated the effectiveness of 'Smart Voting.' Research in this area shows that a significant portion of voters in September 2019 acted on the recommendations of this mechanism, not only increasing the range of votes for opposition candidates but also impacting the success rate of the 'United Russia' party. According to this research, out of 1,313 candidates supported by 'Smart Voting,' 363 were elected. However, some independent candidates and opposition groups in Russia criticized the 'Smart Voting' campaign, believing that it did not support genuine opponents of Kremlin policies. Alexei Navalny and his associates emphasized that the goal of 'Smart Voting' is not to elect an ideal candidate but to defeat the 'United Russia' party and Kremlin-supported politicians. The relative success of Alexei Navalny and his associates led them to turn this mechanism into an application for smartphones. At the same time, the Russian government took action to neutralize this strategy. Therefore, during the three-day parliamentary elections in Russia in September 2021, when it was expected that 'Smart Voting' could once again facilitate coordination among the opponents of the status quo, the Russian government pressured Google and Apple to block the 'Smart Voting' application at the moment the voting process began. In this period, Navalny, a prominent opponent of Putin, was in prison. Ahead of these elections, Russian officials threatened IT companies that failure to remove this application would be considered illegal interference in the elections of the country. This can also demonstrate the seriousness of the threat that the ruling 'United Russia' party felt from Navalny's Smart Voting initiative. Collective action and mobilization of the opponents of the status quo Political participation through 'elections' is one of the most complex issues in modern societies and, at the same time, the most popular institutionalized political collective action in the present era. If in democratic systems, political parties play a role in organizing demands and mobilizing voters, how can the barriers to collective action for participation in elections be removed in non-democratic systems while the opponents of the status quo are divided? Alexei Navalny's experience in what became known as 'Smart Voting' is an example of creating a mechanism among the opponents of the government that was able to provide a 'bridge' for collective action among the opponents of the status quo in this country. This mechanism can serve as a model for cooperation and tolerance among diverse opposition groups in non-democratic societies. Coordination and collaboration within the framework of a common goal, even against a repressive system, can be a way to bring about meaningful and effective changes in political and social structures.