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It's voting for the candidate most likely to win against the main party's candidates. The app's purpose is to concentrate protest voters on one candidate withou

It's voting for the candidate most likely to win against the main party's candidates. The app's purpose is to concentrate protest voters on one candidate without spreading them over all of them.

d0gsg0w00f 5y ago
Could the same thing be accomplished with rank choice voting?
- jhgb 5y ago
  Wouldn't you have to be in control of the government for that in the first place?
- kilotaras 5y ago
  Are you asking if Russia would allow alternative voting system in order to make it easier voting for opposition candidate?
  - d0gsg0w00f 5y ago
    It sounds like the app has a similar goal as ranked choice voting.
- jonathanlydall 5y ago
  Russia doesn't presently use rank choice voting, so it's not an option for this weekend's election.
onlyrealcuzzo 5y ago
Isn't there a lot of evidence that Russia's elections are rigged? Like turnout percentages have ridiculous percentages of ratios that end in 0 and 5 - as do growth in turnout.
- codedokode 5y ago
  Sometimes they are, but (mostly in large cities) people sign up as election monitors to prevent it. Sadly, most of 90 000 polling stations are not monitored by independent observers. The main way to control elections now is not letting opposition candidates to get into the ballot. For example, on this elections many candidates were rejected because they are "linked" to Navalny's organisation that was admitted as an extremist organization by the court. Some people are rejected because the signatures they have collected are deemed invalid. Obviously you cannot win if you cannot get into the ballot. There also is electronic voting (voting over Internet) which is difficult to monitor. It is also worth noting that while you can vote over Internet, you cannot collect more than 50% of required signatures for being added to a ballot this way.
- asats 5y ago
  They are rigged, but not as fully as they were in e.g. Belarus. Russia is a giant country with 85 "states" and around ~100k polling stations, so the process is very complex and involves different voting and administrative cultures. In some of those states they are fully rigged, with 95% turnout and 98% votes for the ruling party, but in some the elections are surprisingly fair. In a lot of others they can be made fair if any poll watchers are present. Overall the thinking is that they add themselves 10-15% additional votes across the country by straight up voter fraud. The main way they rig the elections right now is by not allowing anyone who could win to participate and then throwing all of the state resources towards promoting their candidate. That's why consolidated voting for a single opposition candidate can work in this context.
  - walteweiss 5y ago
    A very nice explanation, thank you!
  - lostmsu 5y ago
    To add to this: this elections are run independently in every region. The government's ability to rig them in one area does not affect the outcome in another.
- 5y ago

It's voting for the candidate most likely to win against the main party's candidates. The app's purpose is to concentrate protest voters on one candidate without spreading them over all of them.

d0gsg0w00f 5y ago

Could the same thing be accomplished with rank choice voting?

jhgb 5y ago
Wouldn't you have to be in control of the government for that in the first place?
kilotaras 5y ago
Are you asking if Russia would allow alternative voting system in order to make it easier voting for opposition candidate?
- d0gsg0w00f 5y ago
  It sounds like the app has a similar goal as ranked choice voting.
jonathanlydall 5y ago
Russia doesn't presently use rank choice voting, so it's not an option for this weekend's election.

onlyrealcuzzo 5y ago

Isn't there a lot of evidence that Russia's elections are rigged? Like turnout percentages have ridiculous percentages of ratios that end in 0 and 5 - as do growth in turnout.

codedokode 5y ago
Sometimes they are, but (mostly in large cities) people sign up as election monitors to prevent it. Sadly, most of 90 000 polling stations are not monitored by independent observers. The main way to control elections now is not letting opposition candidates to get into the ballot. For example, on this elections many candidates were rejected because they are "linked" to Navalny's organisation that was admitted as an extremist organization by the court. Some people are rejected because the signatures they have collected are deemed invalid. Obviously you cannot win if you cannot get into the ballot. There also is electronic voting (voting over Internet) which is difficult to monitor. It is also worth noting that while you can vote over Internet, you cannot collect more than 50% of required signatures for being added to a ballot this way.
asats 5y ago
They are rigged, but not as fully as they were in e.g. Belarus. Russia is a giant country with 85 "states" and around ~100k polling stations, so the process is very complex and involves different voting and administrative cultures. In some of those states they are fully rigged, with 95% turnout and 98% votes for the ruling party, but in some the elections are surprisingly fair. In a lot of others they can be made fair if any poll watchers are present. Overall the thinking is that they add themselves 10-15% additional votes across the country by straight up voter fraud. The main way they rig the elections right now is by not allowing anyone who could win to participate and then throwing all of the state resources towards promoting their candidate. That's why consolidated voting for a single opposition candidate can work in this context.
- walteweiss 5y ago
  A very nice explanation, thank you!
- lostmsu 5y ago
  To add to this: this elections are run independently in every region. The government's ability to rig them in one area does not affect the outcome in another.
5y ago