2012 Russian presidential election

Russian presidential election, 2012

4 March 2012

Nominee Vladimir Putin Gennady Zyuganov Mikhail Prokhorov Party United Russia CPRF Independent Popular vote 45,478,680 12,282,581 5,671,348 Percentage 63.64% 17.14% 7.94%   Nominee Vladimir Zhirinovsky Sergey Mironov Party LDPR SR Popular vote 4,446,918 2,754,050 Percentage 6.22% 3.85%

President before election Dmitry Medvedev Supported by United Russia President-elect Vladimir Putin United Russia

The 2012 Russian presidential election was held on 4 March 2012. There were five officially-registered candidates: four representatives of registered parties and one independent. The election was for a new, extended term of six years.

At the United Russia Congress in Moscow on 24 September 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed that his predecessor, Vladimir Putin stand for the Presidency in 2012; an offer which Putin accepted. Putin immediately offered Medvedev to stand on the United Russia ticket in the parliamentary elections in December and becoming Prime Minister of Russia at the end of his presidential term.

All independents had to register by December 15, and candidates nominated by parties had to register by January 18. The final list was announced on January 29. On March 2, outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev addressed the nation on the national television channels about the following presidential election. He invited the citizens of Russia to vote in the election to be held on March 4, 2012.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin received 63.64% of the vote with almost 100% of the votes counted. With this election, Putin has secured a record third term in the Kremlin.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe observers assessed the voting on the election day positively overall, but assessed the vote count negatively in almost one-third of polling stations due to procedural irregularities. The next presidential election will be in 2018.

Candidates

The following are individuals who submitted documents required to be officially registered as a presidential candidate to the Central Election Commission.

Registered candidates

The following candidates were successfully registered by the Central Election Commission:

• Vladimir Putin, nominated by United Russia and endorsed by Patriots of Russia
• Gennady Zyuganov, nominated by Communist Party of the Russian Federation
• Sergey Mironov, nominated by A Just Russia
• Vladimir Zhirinovsky, nominated by Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
• Mikhail Prokhorov, independent

Rejected

The following candidates were denied registration by the Russian Central Elections Committee (CEC).

Name	Party	Profession	Reason of rejection
Grigory Yavlinsky	Yabloko	Politician, Economist	Rejected due to the high quantity of invalid signatures he presented to the CEC (25.66%).
Eduard Limonov	Independent	Writer, leader of the unregistered party The Other Russia	Registration request from group of voters turned down on the grounds that the required initiative committee members signatures had not been certified by a notary.
Leonid Ivashov	Independent	Colonel General in Reserve, President of the Academy of Geopolitical Affairs	Registration request from group of voters turned down because he did not inform the CEC about holding a meeting in due time.
Dmitry Mezentsev	Independent	Governor of the Irkutsk Oblast	Rejected due to the high quantity of invalid signatures he presented.
Nicolai Levashov	Independent	Writer	Registration request turned down because at the time of registration attempt he had lived in Russia for less than 10 years.
Boris Mironov	Independent	Writer, former leader of the National Sovereignty Party of Russia	Registration request from group of voters turned down on the grounds that the candidate had been previously convicted of writing extremist texts.
Svetlana Peunova	Independent	Head of the unregistered political party Volya	Rejected due to the lack of signatures gathered to uphold her bid (243,245 signatures gathered out of the necessary 2 million).
Viktor Cherepkov	Independent	Leader of the of the unregistered party Freedom and Sovereignty	Did not present any signatures required for registration.
Rinat Khamiev	Independent	Leader of the Chairman of the People's Patriotic Union of Orenburg, CEO of Zorro LLC	Did not present any signatures required for registration.
Dmitry Berdnikov	Independent	Leader of the group "Against Criminality and Lawlessness"	Submitted an application on creation of an initiative committee, but later dropped out of the registration process.
Lidiya Bednaya	Independent	Unknown	Rejected by the CEC because she didn't provide the necessary documentation.

Campaigning

Putin's campaign

Putin supporters on the 23 February Luzhniki rally.

Putin's campaign has been led since the end of December by Vyacheslav Volodin, the only man in Putin's close entourage who had practical experience of the tough election battles of the anarchic 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin's campaign had been laced with anti-Americanism, including claims that the U.S. had instigated the opposition protests in order to weaken Russia — strident rhetoric that resonated well with his core support base of blue-collar workers, farmers and state employees. During the campaign Putin published a series of articles on issues of domestic and foreign policy, in which he repeatedly highlighted the priorities of Russia's foreign-policy orientation and emphasized the need for the balanced development of Russia's relations with both Europe and Asia, including the neighbor states of South and Central Asia. Putin emphasized the importance of an independent Russian foreign policy as a key to that guaranteeing respect for his country, but he also believes that Russian independence provides a key to global security.

Programme articles

During the campaign Putin published a series of articles on issues of domestic and foreign policy, in which he repeatedly highlighted the priorities of Russia's foreign-policy orientation and emphasized the need for the balanced development of Russia's relations with both Europe and Asia, including the neighbor states of South and Central Asia. Putin emphasized the importance of an independent Russian foreign policy as a key to that guaranteeing respect for his country, but he also believes that Russian independence provides a key to global security.

• "Russia is Concentrating – the Challenges We Must Rise to Face" (Россия сосредотачивается – вызовы, на которые мы должны ответить). Published by Izvestiya on 16 January 2012, contains an overview of challenges addressed in more detail in subsequent articles. The title alludes to the famous phrase of Russia's 19th century Foreign Minister Alexander Gorchakov: "They say Russia is angry. Russia is not angry. Russia is concentrating."
• "Russia: the Ethnicity Issue" (Россия: национальный вопрос). Published by Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 23 January 2012, devoted to the national and ethnic issues of Russia.
• "On our Economic Tasks" (О наших экономических задачах, original publication here [1]). Published by Vedomosti on 30 January 2012, devoted to the economy of Russia.
• "Democracy and the Quality of Government" (Демократия и качество государства). Published by Kommersant on 6 February 2012, devoted to the development of democracy and improvement of the state functioning in Russia.
• "Building Justice. A Social Policy for Russia" (Строительство справедливости. Социальная политика для России). Published by Komsomolskaya Pravda on 13 February 2012, devoted to the social policies: incomes, pensions, demographics, health care, housing, education and culture of Russia.
• "Being Strong: National Security Guarantees for Russia" (Быть сильными: гарантии национальной безопасности для России). Published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta on 20 February 2012, devoted to the military and defence industry of Russia.
• "Russia and the Changing World" (Россия и меняющийся мир). Published by Moskovskiye Novosti on 27 February 2012, devoted to the foreign politics of Russia.

Speeches

Panorama of the 23 February Luzhniki rally, where Putin made his Borodino speech

During the campaign Putin made a single outdoor public speech at the 100,000-strong rally of his supporters in the Luzhniki Stadium on 23 February, Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day. In the speech he called not to betray the Motherland, but to love her, to unite around Russia and to work together for the good, to overcome the existing problems. He said that foreign interference in Russian affairs should not be allowed, that Russia has its own free will. He compared the political situation at the moment (when fears were spread in the Russian society that 2011–2012 Russian protests could instigate a color revolution directed from abroad) with the First Fatherland War of 1812, reminding that its 200th anniversary and the anniversary of the Battle of Borodino would be celebrated in 2012. Putin cited Lermontov's poem Borodino and ended the speech with Vyacheslav Molotov's famous Great Patriotic War slogan "The Victory Shall Be Ours!" ("Победа будет за нами!").

On the post-election celebration rally, while making an acceptance speech, Putin was for the first time ever seen with tears in his eyes (later he explained that "it was windy"). He said to a 110,000-strong audience: "I told you we would win and we won!" The BBC said the tears were a sign that he had been "rattled" by recent protests.

Zyuganov's campaign

In September 2011, Gennady Zyuganov again became the CPRF's candidate for the Russian presidential election. According to Zyuganov, "a gang of folks who cannot do anything in life apart from dollars, profits and mumbling, has humiliated the country" and called for a new international alliance to "counter the aggressive policies of imperialist circles."

Zhirinovsky's campaign

Main article: Zhirinovsky's ass

Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky is a veteran of Russian politics who has participated in five presidential elections in Russia (every election since 1996). Zhirinovsky's campaign slogan for 2012 was "Vote Zhirinovsky, or things will get worse".

Opinion polls

Election forecasts

Poll source	Date
		Vladimir Putin	Gennady Zyuganov	Vladimir Zhirinovsky	Mikhail Prokhorov	Sergey Mironov
Levada	16–20 Dec 2011	63 %	13 %	12 %	3 %	6 %
Levada	20–23 Jan 2011	63 %	15 %	8 %	5 %	5 %
FOM	21–22 Jan 2012	52.2 %	18.0 %	10.8 %	6.7 %	6.6 %
FOM	28–29 Jan 2012	54.6 %	16.9 %	11.7 %	6.9 %	5.9 %
FOM	4–5 Feb 2012	58.7 %	15.0 %	12.2 %	7.2 %	5.1 %
FOM	11–12 Feb 2012	60.0 %	16.7 %	9.5 %	7.4 %	5.0 %
VCIOM	11–12 Feb 2012	58.6 %	14.8 %	9.4 %	8.7 %	7.7 %
Levada	17–20 Feb 2012	66 %	15 %	8 %	6 %	5 %
FOM	18–19 Feb 2012	58.7 %	16.2 %	8.8 %	8.6 %	6.1 %
VCIOM	25–26 Feb 2012	59.9 %	15.1 %	7.7 %	8.7 %	7.1 %

Open survey

Candidate	24 December 2011	24–25 December 2011	7 January 2012	14 January 2012	14–15 January 2012	21 January 2012	28 January 2012	12 February 2012
Vladimir Putin	45 %	44 %	48 %	52 %	45 %	49 %	52 %	55 %
Mikhail Prokhorov	4 %	4 %	3 %	2 %	3 %	4 %	4 %	6 %
Gennady Zyuganov	10 %	12 %	10 %	11 %	11 %	8 %	9 %
Vladimir Zhirinovsky	8 %	11 %	9 %	9 %	10 %	9 %	8 %	8 %
Sergey Mironov	5 %	4 %	5 %	4 %	3 %	6 %	4 %	5 %
Grigory Yavlinsky	2 %	2 %	2 %	1 %	1 %
Dmitry Mezentsev	—	—	0 %	0 %	—
Other	—	2 %	—	0 %	1 %
Would not vote	10 %	9 %	9 %	10 %	10 %	9 %	11 %	9 %
Plan to ruin ballot	—	1 %	—	—	1 %
Don't know	12 %	12 %	10 %	9 %	13 %	9 %	10 %	8 %
Sample Size	1,600	3,000	1,600	1,600	3,000	1,600	1,600	1,600
Poll Source	VTSIOM	Public Opinion Fund	VTSIOM	VTSIOM	Public Opinion Fund	VTSIOM	VTSIOM	VTSIOM

According to a "Levada Center" opinion poll from September 2011, 41% of Russian people wanted to see Putin be a candidate in the 2012 elections as opposed to 22% for Medvedev, while 10% wanted someone else and 28% were unsure.

Result

Absentee certificate for participation in the election

Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila Putina voting at the elections.

There were over 108,000,000 eligible voters and almost all 95,000 polling stations had webcams to observe the voting process. Following criticism of the vote in the December elections, 2 web cameras were dediced to streaming the activities at each polling station, at an expense of a half billion dollars.

Electoral irregularities

International observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) concluded that voting on the day of the election was assessed positively overall, but the "process deteriorated during the vote count which was assessed negatively in almost one-third of polling stations observed due to procedural irregularities." Although all competitors had access to the media, Putin was given clear prominence. Strict candidate registration requirements also limited "genuine competition". According to Tonino Picula, the Special Co-ordinator to lead the short-term OSCE observer mission,

“There were serious problems from the very start of this election. The point of elections is that the outcome should be uncertain. This was not the case in Russia. There was no real competition and abuse of government resources ensured that the ultimate winner of the election was never in doubt.”

The OSCE called for a thorough investigation of the electoral violations and urged citizens to actively oversee future elections in order to increase confidence.

Pravda alleged that industrial plants with a continuous-cycle production have violated the law by bussing workers to polling centres. The chairman of the Moscow Election Committee Valentin Gorbunov countered the accusation saying that this was normal practice and did not constitute a violation. According to Iosif Diskin, a member of the Public Chamber of Russia, there were special observers who controlled that workers have legal absentee certificates. Information about carousel voting was, according to him, not confirmed. Georgy Fyodorov, director of the NGO "Citizens Watch" ("Гражданский контроль"), said that statements from the monitoring group GOLOS about carousel voting in Strogino District were false, however, Citizens Watch never addressed the evidence of the electoral fraud presented by GOLOS. The level of electoral manipulation is substantial. According to GOLOS, one third of all electoral commissions had substantial irregularities at the stage of vote counting and tabulation.

Тhe Communist Party of the Russian Federation did not acknowledge the results of the election.

Claims that Putin's share of the vote was inflated by up to 10% were dismissed by Putin in a talk with journalists: "It's possible there were irregularities, probably there were some. But they can only influence hundredths of a per cent. Well, maybe one per cent; that I can imagine. But no more."

Ruža Tomašić, OSCE observer from Croatia, noted that there were no irregularities at five polling stations near Kaluga.

Protests

On 11 March 2012 approximately 15,000 - 20,000 protesters demonstrated in Novy Arbat street against perceived fraud and Putin's rule. MP Ilya Ponomaryov, a protest coordinator, described the protesters' plans: "We must be the government's constant nightmare and build up to a crescendo of protests at the time of Putin's inauguration in early May."

See also

• Bald–hairy
• Zhirinovsky's ass

External links

• Online webcams in all the polling stations
• "Presidential Vote 2012", The Moscow Times
• Russian presidential election, 2012 at the Guardian