SCW NEWSWATCH: "Navalny-backed candidates win Siberian cities in Russian election; Putin’s ruling United Russia party claims landslide victories in other regional elections" - Financial Times 9.14.20

"... Putin’s United Russia party swept all ... 18 gubernatorial races ... winning 13 ... with more than 70 per cent .... Seven Kremlin-backed governors won more than 80 per cent ... raising fears of electoral manipulations under a new system that allowed people to vote over three days. [Independent election watchdog] Golos ... said the campaign had been conducted with 'lawlessness.' The ... dozens of regional polls were seen as a critical stress test for United Russia ahead of next year’s parliamentary election. Public anger over ... falling real incomes, higher taxes and an increase in the pension age ... [drove] the party’s popularity to an all-time low. The elections were held in the shadow of last month’s poisoning of ... Navalny by the Soviet-developed nerve agent novichok. His organisation’s 'smart voting' initiative encouraged voters ... to back candidates with the best chance of unseating United Russia [opponents] ...."

Keywords: Russia, Elections, United Russia, Navalny, Russian Politics, Russian Opposition