Quote from: margot on September 19, 2021, 17:26:15
Navalny's voting preferences are 1-2%. He is nobody and nobody cares about him except Washington Post. Why is this political BS on NBC?
Author here. Uh, just so you guys know, I live in Armenia, literally a two hours' drive from the Russian border. I'm fluent in Russian and I keep abreast of current events in the region and, y'know, actually talk to Russians. Elections aren't remotely free or fair: people can lose their jobs (even in the private sector) or housing allotments if they vote against the ruling party. There's a general apathy about political participation and that's leveraged by special benefits (which can include cash) that are offered for voting the "right" way. Plenty of people, a lot more than official stats (which, again are collected by the government), support Navalny, and even the Communists, basically anyone else. The point of this article wasn't to highlight that, though, but to highlight how this app was taken down due to government pressure, despite the fact that all it does is highlight non United Russia candidates in a given constituency. Yes, I've done my homework and I literally live in this corner of the world.