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Publicly Available Russian Election Results Hint At Fraud

gotfork writes "As some Russians protest the results of the recent election, several commentators (Russian), have started looking at the results which are posted to the election commission web site and there's very strong evidence of fraud. Voter turnout correlates strongly with percent voting for the ruling party, United Russia, and there are a lot of polling stations with nearly 100% turnout and 100% voting for United Russia in some unusual places. The raw data is posted so you can do your own analysis."

304 comments

  1. Forced Voting? by AdamJS · · Score: 2

    Do they do that at all in Russia? Still, 100%...lol. Putin doesn't even care anymore.

    1. Re:Forced Voting? by tripleevenfall · · Score: 5, Funny

      What, you don't think United Russia would score 100% in Chechnya?

    2. Re:Forced Voting? by AdamJS · · Score: 1

      Which is why I said "lol".

      I'm curious as to if they actually got people to vote and just lied (or fudged the numbers or changed the votes afterward) or if they just straight up lied about everything.

    3. Re:Forced Voting? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Funny

      It takes Russia a longtime to catch up. Now they are finally equal to the US in 2000.

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    4. Re:Forced Voting? by Sulphur · · Score: 1

      Which is why I said "lol".

      I'm curious as to if they actually got people to vote and just lied (or fudged the numbers or changed the votes afterward) or if they just straight up lied about everything.

      Lenin On Line; He says congratulations.

    5. Re:Forced Voting? by JonahsDad · · Score: 2

      It takes Russia a longtime to catch up. Now they are finally equal to the US in 2000.

      They're still years away from equaling the US. They may have figured out election fraud, but we hide it much better here. Not completely, but much better.

    6. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The answer to that is probably that its his strategy.

      Who is going to stop him from doing it?
      It may be in his best interest to show that he can do it and does back away from that, and at the same time, being this obvious, it would make it easy to figure out who your enemies are, since they will most likely jump on a chance like this.

      Just like the one time of killing somebody with radioactive material. Its not like that doesn't strongly point in the direction of russia, but that could be the whole point.

    7. Re:Forced Voting? by thue · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How can anybody (fx Slashdot) would describe 99.51% voting for United Russia in Chechnya as "hint at fraud" instead of the more correct "unambiguous evidence of fraud"? Is Slashdot owned by the Russian dictatorship?

    8. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please, Chicago has been doing this since the 60s.

    9. Re:Forced Voting? by ackthpt · · Score: 1

      Do they do that at all in Russia? Still, 100%...lol. Putin doesn't even care anymore.

      The Russians did a lot of the same things the Iranian regime did, when they utterly cooked the election so overdone that official counts showed more votes than voters in many cities. Of course, when the people screamed their indignation they beat, kicked, shot and arrested them. Gives you a pretty good idea how ruthless the Revolutionary Guard are about keeping power. After a few arrests and dispersing protesters it's good to see the Russians aren't using the same brutal tactics, to the extent they were in Iran. Perhaps there is hope for Russia after all.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    10. Re:Forced Voting? by ackthpt · · Score: 1, Troll

      It takes Russia a longtime to catch up. Now they are finally equal to the US in 2000.

      They're still years away from equaling the US. They may have figured out election fraud, but we hide it much better here. Not completely, but much better.

      I keep waiting for the day the GOP has their IPO on the NYSE. Might as well just get it all out there in the open and stop mucking about, begging corporate money for favours.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    11. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      How can anybody (fx Slashdot) would describe 99.51% voting for United Russia in Chechnya as "hint at fraud" instead of the more correct "unambiguous evidence of fraud"? Is Slashdot owned by the Russian dictatorship?

      *sigh* First we get the wankers in here who bitch and bitch and bitch about how Slashdot shouldn't editorialize and sensationalize their summaries. Then we get wankers like you who bitch and bitch and bitch about how Slashdot should editorialize and sensationalize their summaries.

      Then we get the people who, despite theoretically being at least passable in the concepts of logic and deduction, can't seem to come to terms with why Slashdot has been on a decline, quality-wise.

    12. Re:Forced Voting? by AdamJS · · Score: 4, Funny

      Lenin On Line

      In Putin Russia, Mail have You?

    13. Re:Forced Voting? by rednip · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Political corruption is as old as politics itself, acting like it's a Chicago invention is just another 'conservative' trying to make a back handed comment about President Obama's legitimacy,

      --
      The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
    14. Re:Forced Voting? by AdamJS · · Score: 1

      I was just curious as to the intertwining mechanics. No shit it's obvious fraud. Or rather, needs an entirely new term.

    15. Re:Forced Voting? by tripleevenfall · · Score: 3, Funny

      I for one feel like we should have more passive-aggressive editorializing, especially by using the old /. standby phrase "it will be interesting..."

    16. Re:Forced Voting? by tripleevenfall · · Score: 1

      Where will you go for shares of the DNC, then? The WIC office?

    17. Re:Forced Voting? by tripleevenfall · · Score: 0

      Not at all. Corruption in Chicago is more prevalent than bacteria, and it has been this way for a century.

    18. Re:Forced Voting? by hedwards · · Score: 0

      The difference is that the GOP has a much more illustrious history of whoring itself out to special interests. I take it you've forgotten about the Jack Abramoff affair.

    19. Re:Forced Voting? by thue · · Score: 1

      > Then we get wankers like you who bitch and bitch and bitch about how Slashdot should editorialize and sensationalize their summaries.

      How is stating the obvious to "editorialize and sensationalize"?

    20. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any relation to the Jon Corzine affair?

    21. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Similarly absurd results come from Chechnya on every election, only this time we hate Mr. Putin so there is uproar. When the candidate in question were Yeltsin, or even on first elections with Putin, West rubber stamped them as free and fair.

    22. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which other party would you expect to be popular in Chechnya?

      1. Communists.
      2. Socialists.
      3. Nazi and clowns.
      4. Randroids.

      5. nationalists

    23. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Soviet Russia you are free to vote for the ruling party.

    24. Re:Forced Voting? by Dishevel · · Score: 0

      Any reason that you think Democrats are any better?
      They are all whores.
      Democrats are whored out to public employee unions and lawyers.
      Republicans are whored out to big pharma and big telco.

      They all want you to just STFU and vote out of fear of what the other guy will do.

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
    25. Re:Forced Voting? by RoLi · · Score: 0

      Not his legitimacy, something much more important his moral fiber.

      Yeah and actually, he is quite open about it.

      What is even more scary is that many of his voters probably think like him.

    26. Re:Forced Voting? by scot4875 · · Score: 1

      Not possible. The Republican talking heads are constantly reminding us how Democrats hate businesses. How could they simultaneously be in bed with some?

      I think you meant to say that the Democrats push Greenpeace and PETA's agenda. Gotta keep that rhetoric straight.

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    27. Re:Forced Voting? by scot4875 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not really much point in an offtopic response to such an obvious partisan hack, but...

      Did you even read the story? He's talking about how when he was in 8th grade, he wasn't a good student precisely because he liked basketball more than anything else. He implies that ethics was, in fact, more important than basketball but because he wasn't a very good student he couldn't appreciate it at the time.

      But whatever. Go on trashing him over stupid shit like this instead of his actual policies, because you know, it's *so* productive to bitch and moan about what our presidents used to do as students.

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    28. Re:Forced Voting? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 0

      Where are these moral fibers.

      What do they look like? Carbon, or glass?

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    29. Re:Forced Voting? by Alex+Belits · · Score: 2

      Russian nationalists in a province with mostly non-Russian population?

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    30. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not sure I get your point.
      Are you arguing that Republicans are not whored out to big businesses and big media?
      or
      Are you arguing that Democrats are not a wholly owned subsidiary of public employee unions and lawyers?

    31. Re:Forced Voting? by Hentes · · Score: 1

      Forced Voting?

      It was only in the dark communist times when people were forced to go and vote. Now Russia is a democracy, so you don't have to vote if you don't want to. They are kind enough to do that for you.

    32. Re:Forced Voting? by jbengt · · Score: 3, Informative

      I grew up in Chicago, and I can tell you, everyone, including Obama, was aware of political corruption. But Obama was not inside the corrupt crowd. He was what the pols would deridingly call an elite Hyde Park liberal.

    33. Re:Forced Voting? by Algae_94 · · Score: 1

      The moral fibers are weak without a reinforcing matrix to hold them together. I assume they are chopped strands randomly oriented within his flesh.

    34. Re:Forced Voting? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      I would expect them to not come and vote at all. Definitely not a 99% turnout.

      I mean, what, the guys running around in the mountains with AKs and green bandanas with shahada on them came to vote for UR, too?

    35. Re:Forced Voting? by AdamJS · · Score: 1

      After a tiny bit of coffee-break research, it seems that there are a decent chunk of first world countries that have compulsory voting.

      Of course, if Russia did have it, I suppose it would expose these elections as even more of a fraud.

    36. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      100%? They can do better than that.

    37. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Uh... you do know what Chechnya is, right? There is NO WAY that ~99% of Chechnya voted for United Russia. It's like seeing 99% of Texas vote for Democrats: it's BLINDING OBVIOUS there's something weird/fraudulent.

    38. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's old and everyone does it so it's ok if obama does it. Of course it's not ok if it's a 'conservative'.

    39. Re:Forced Voting? by Frnknstn · · Score: 1

      Chechnyian nationalists, maybe...?

      --
      If it's in you sig, it's in your post.
    40. Re:Forced Voting? by ackthpt · · Score: 1

      Where will you go for shares of the DNC, then? The WIC office?

      NASDAQ, of course.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    41. Re:Forced Voting? by Alex+Belits · · Score: 1

      Chechnyian nationalists, maybe...?

      As far as I know, even when everyone wasn't sick of them yet, they didn't have a nonviolent organization, leave alone a party.

      --
      Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
    42. Re:Forced Voting? by sjames · · Score: 1

      Chicago is actually famous for how many of it's dead turn out for elections.

    43. Re:Forced Voting? by Rei · · Score: 1

      One has to be cautious about making these sort of declarations without knowing the details. For example, back during the last Iran election thing, I heard a lot of people talking about how some districts in Iran reported more people voting in them than lived there, and stuff like that as indisputable proof of fraud. Apparently not realizing that in Iran, you don't have to vote in your own district; you can vote anywhere in the country, so business districts usually get a disproportionate voter-to-resident ratio.

      I wouldn't want to make any declarations about the significance of this data without knowing more about it.

      --
      If you can't connect the dots at this point, it's because the dots are too f***ing close together.
    44. Re:Forced Voting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would also like to know how "Violent revolution in several cities" turned into "Protesters".

  2. In Russia,,, by phrostie · · Score: 5, Funny

    the Elections vote for you!

    someone had to say it

    1. Re:In Russia,,, by Fahrvergnuugen · · Score: 0

      And sadly, no one is surprised.

      --
      Kiteboarding Gear Mention slashdot and get 10% off!
    2. Re:In Russia,,, by paiute · · Score: 0

      Ballot box stuffs you!

      --
      If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
    3. Re:In Russia,,, by Divide+By+Zero · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ballot stuffs YOU in box!

      --
      Dare to Hope. Prepare to be Disappointed.
    4. Re:In Russia,,, by Crudely_Indecent · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Incorrect. Nobody had to say it.

      --


      "Lame" - Galaxar
    5. Re:In Russia,,, by Mojo66 · · Score: 1, Redundant

      In Soviet Russia, Florida is everywhere!

    6. Re:In Russia,,, by Starboyforever · · Score: 1, Redundant

      On reddit, someone said this days ago. Read reddit much?

    7. Re:In Russia,,, by NoSleepDemon · · Score: 0

      In soviet Russia, you do not go looking for moderators...

  3. Ten years since the USSR fell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And nothing's changed a bit.

    1. Re:Ten years since the USSR fell by spiffmastercow · · Score: 1

      Not true. The commies at least allowed a fair election, albeit after several decades of ruling with an iron fist.

    2. Re:Ten years since the USSR fell by Zedrick · · Score: 1

      Ten years? So.... you think the SSSR fell when Jeltsin stepped down?

    3. Re:Ten years since the USSR fell by peppepz · · Score: 1

      Isn't it like 20 years?

    4. Re:Ten years since the USSR fell by Canazza · · Score: 4, Informative

      1988 is when the wall came down. 1991 is when it was dissolved. 20 years this month.

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
    5. Re:Ten years since the USSR fell by Canazza · · Score: 1

      20 years ago on Christmas day!

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
    6. Re:Ten years since the USSR fell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      The wall came down in 1989 ...

    7. Re:Ten years since the USSR fell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want to be pedantic, the (Berlin) wall came down in late 1989.

    8. Re:Ten years since the USSR fell by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      The wall came down in 1989 ...

      The Berlin Wall wasn't in the USSR, genius.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  4. Electronic Voting by sociocapitalist · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm sure that if they used electronic voting machines the results would have been much more accurate. At least until Putin's old KGB friends got to them.

    --
    blindly antisocialist = antisocial
    1. Re:Electronic Voting by Moheeheeko · · Score: 1

      There are videos of "election offcials" filling out stacks of ballots. its kind of sickening.

    2. Re:Electronic Voting by Moryath · · Score: 5, Informative

      In the US, they just stop you from voting if you are in a group likely to vote the wrong way.

      And we wonder why the US can't manage to get 50% turnout even in a presidential election year?

      In Texas, student ID cards are no longer be valid for voting; neither are ID cards issued by the federal Veterans Administration. All those students and war vets need to do is go buy a gun: concealed weapons permits are acceptable at the polls.

      Republicans all sing from the same hymnal on this one: voting must be tightly controlled to prevent fraud. Never mind that there is no fraud. Indeed, the Brennan Center found that voter fraud is so "exceedingly rare" that "one is more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit voter fraud." Mickey Mouse was not allowed to register. Paul Newman did not vote from beyond the grave. Hordes of undocumented Mexicans have not stuffed ballot boxes (though a great many new, legal Latino voters have registered in Florida, Texas and other large states).

      But why let the facts get in the way of rigging an election?

    3. Re:Electronic Voting by Moryath · · Score: 4, Informative

      Indeed, a cursory google search on the terms "Indiana 2008 voter fraud" shows that... oh hey, not a SINGLE verifiable or reputable news source went anywhere near this nonsensical lie of a story.

      A lot of right-wing nutcase blogs, and of course that fraudulent liar Breitbart (known mostly for faking videos himself) all over it. And if we follow your link we find they are... ah, yes. "The New American", front group for those rabid nutwingers the John Birch Society.

    4. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      You're alluding to a petition to put them on the ballot. ALL petitions have signatures that don't add up, even those which put Republican candidates on the ballot. Once the "fake" signatures are removed, they count how many legitimate ones remain, whether the petition is for a Republican candidate, a Democratic candidate, a ballot initiative, or any other activity in which citizens can present petitions. The reasons for the "fake" signatures vary: sometimes people just write bogus names while exiting a supermarket, sometimes they write their real name, but happen not to be registered voters (and so the signature doesn't count), and so on.

      To put this in the same category as voter fraud is ridiculous. Also, the belief that only Obama's and Clinton's campaigns suffered this phenomenon is, err, "ignorant".

    5. Re:Electronic Voting by AdamJS · · Score: 1

      This is on a far higher level of corruption. This is outright forging every piece of the election results.

    6. Re:Electronic Voting by fsckmnky · · Score: 1

      When Rome burns, we shall all feel the heat, and it will not have mattered which side of the room we occupied.

    7. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Student IDs and VA cards aren't state issued, but drivers licenses and concealed carry permits are. But don't let facts get in the way of your bias.

    8. Re:Electronic Voting by Moryath · · Score: 1

      VA cards are FEDERALLY issued. But that shouldn't matter, apparently, if your goal (like many Republicans) is to disenfranchise people who serve/served their country honorably in the military.

    9. Re:Electronic Voting by fsckmnky · · Score: 0
      Also...

      The reasons for the "fake" signatures vary: sometimes people just write bogus names while exiting a supermarket, sometimes they write their real name, but happen not to be registered voters (and so the signature doesn't count), and so on.

      From http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/2395.htm ... PDF document titled "INDIANA PETITION FOR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY BALLOT PLACEMENT" at http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/files/CAN-8__(2012A_revision).pdf

      TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF INDIANA OR THE INDIANA ELECTION DIVISION:

      Each of the undersigned represents that: 1) the individual resides at the address after the individual's signature; 2) the individual is a duly qualified registered voter in Indiana and 3) the individual desires to be able to vote for the candidate listed below; and each of the undersigned respectfully requests you to plae the following name of the legally qualified candidate for President of the United States on the May 8, 2012 Primary Election Ballot as a candidate of the (check only one box please) [ ] Democratic Party or [ ] Republican Party.

      Near the bottom of the form

      County Voter Registration Office Certification

      I certify that, in accordance with IC 3-8-2-9, I have reviewed the registration records of the petitioners and certify the above number to be registered voters of this County.

      So you see, it is already understood that some people might fill out false information, which is why county officials swear and sign that they have validated each signature against voter registration records, and this is the source of the fraud.

    10. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, the strawman argument that confuses the differences between getting signatures to make someone get on a ballot in a state primary election and a vote in an actual election.

    11. Re:Electronic Voting by neglogic · · Score: 1

      Who is being disenfranchised? Are there any veterans who have a VA card as their ONLY form of ID?

    12. Re:Electronic Voting by Moryath · · Score: 2

      Actually, YES. Military veterans who can't operate a car due to blinding or paralysis or leg amputation, for starters. Republicans have also been on the forefront of trying to get as many absentee military ballots thrown out as possible, since the rank-and-file are paid shit wages thanks to the machinations of those same Republicans and tend, being poor and supporting families on wages that require public assistance (fully 40% of the US military families are so poor they qualify for food stamps!), to vote Democrat.

      Oh, and let's not forget the machinations of Republicans trying to make it as difficult as possible for military spouses to vote in the state they live in when their spouse is shipped to another "home base" in another state. My aunt was disenfranchised by the lying Republican assholes for 5 years due to all that crap.

      Republicans like to play a good verbal game of claiming to "support the troops", but they don't mean a word of it.

    13. Re:Electronic Voting by fsckmnky · · Score: 1
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_fraud

      Electoral fraud (Redirected from Voter fraud)

      Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both. Also called voter fraud, the mechanisms involved include illegal voter registration, intimidation at polls and improper vote counting. What electoral fraud is under law varies from country to country.

      The requirements for an argument being a strawman, are more than you simply labeling it as such because you disagree with it.

    14. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No, Fox News isn't a reputable news source because they went all the way to the United States Supreme Court to defend their 'right' to knowingly *lie* on the air rather than simply being satisfied with reporting the news. They personally argued that a news show has no duty to be truthful. More mind-boggling than that, though, was the fact that the USSC *agreed* with them.

    15. Re:Electronic Voting by catmistake · · Score: 4, Informative

      If Fox were fabricating these stories out of thin air...

      They are. They admit that they do. A Florida appellate court upheld their right to do so in 2003, courtesy of the First Amendment.

      Wait... you mean... you didn't know??!!! You've been ... you've actually been believing Fox News? No, really? SRSLY?? wow. just... wow. What a mindjob!

    16. Re:Electronic Voting by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      And we wonder why the US can't manage to get 50% turnout even in a presidential election year?

      I guarantee requiring an ID card is not the reason the US can't get 50% voter turnout.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    17. Re:Electronic Voting by Straif · · Score: 2

      Almost every bit of polling data since the 70's shows a clear trend that the lower the income the more likely you are to vote Democrat. In 2006 the breakeven point was somewhere around a family income of 50k but below that almost 60% of votes went to Dems. And it's not like the rich were overwhelmingly Repub; above 50K it was roughly a 52/48 split for them.

      A similar pattern holds true for education levels with people with high school or below predominately voting Dem and those with some University or Bachelor degrees tending Repub and then a turn back to Dem for those with Masters and Phds.

      Oh wait, sorry to interrupt your attempt at trolling with some facts. Carry on.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
    18. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because anyone can come up with a student ID or print out a VA card that doesn't have a photo on it. A concealed weapons permit is only valid with another government issued ID because the gun permit does not have a picture on it, only a thumb print. Two forms of ID are required if you are not using a state issued drivers license.

      You are making a big issue out of nothing. It is easier to get a State issued ID, that is a drivers license with out the driving permit, than it is to get a concealed weapons permit. Concealed permit can take up to 3 months and is run through the FBI. The State issued ID is printed on the spot and isn't checked against anything including citizenship.

      My ex-girlfriend who is illegal in this country(from Brazil) has a perfectly valid State issued ID. The cops have even accepted it as a drivers license even though it isn't. I don't think that she could have used that to register to vote, but I bet many have tried.

      There would be no way that she would have been able to get a concealed weapons permit.

      You are making a big deal out of nothing.

    19. Re:Electronic Voting by ShavedOrangutan · · Score: 2

      Every state issues IDs that are not also a drivers license. This is necessary for many other things than just voting. How else would these disenfranchised people you mention board an airplane or cash a check? Having a state issued identification is a simple and easy requirement for voting. This is not singling out or excluding any demographic.

      Who cares if the VA card is federally issued? So is my DoD badge, and I can't use that as ID for voting. Elections are state run. And every active military or veteran I know wouldn't ever for for a democrat.

      I think someone should have to either pay taxes, run a business, or own property to be able to vote. It's really easy to vote to spend someone else's money when you don't have any skin in the game.

      --
      Godaddy is a scam and a ripoff.
    20. Re:Electronic Voting by Straif · · Score: 1

      That might make a difference in a Federal election but there are no Federal elections in the US. The individual states determine the election conditions as well as who is eligible to vote (keeping in mind the Constitution) so even if you have a Federally approved ID it doesn't mean you have standing to vote within any particular state.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
    21. Re:Electronic Voting by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      Actually, that is true.

      During the last Moscow elections electronic counting machines were used at some polling places. They worked VERY well and were impossible to cheat. So all these machines 'broke down' for this election.

      Here's an article about them (sorry, in Russian):
      http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BA%D0%B8_%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D1%85_%D0%B1%D1%8E%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B9

    22. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think someone should have to either pay taxes, run a business, or own property to be able to vote.

      You forgot the rest of the Retardican platform "and be a white male" portion of that. Fortunately, we've progressed beyond the days when racist neanderthals like you were in charge, though your temper tantrums occasionally make life hell for the rest of the country.

    23. Re:Electronic Voting by ShavedOrangutan · · Score: 0

      You forgot the rest of the Retardican platform "and be a white male" portion of that. Fortunately, we've progressed beyond the days when racist neanderthals like you were in charge, though your temper tantrums occasionally make life hell for the rest of the country.

      Hello AC.

      Every single time anyone challenges the liberals on Slashdot, the response eventually ends being childish name calling. It must be the best you people can do.

      --
      Godaddy is a scam and a ripoff.
    24. Re:Electronic Voting by KDR_11k · · Score: 2

      All this talk about valid IDs and you Americans still oppose the idea of a standard personal ID card...

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    25. Re:Electronic Voting by neglogic · · Score: 1

      Actually, YES. Military veterans who can't operate a car due to blinding or paralysis or leg amputation, for starters.

      So, that would only prevent them from getting a driver's license. They can get no other form of ID?

      Republicans have also been on the forefront of trying to get as many absentee military ballots thrown out as possible,

      If it's a giant Republican conspiracy, then why did Congress pass a law supporting absentee military ballots that Obama has been slow to implement? http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/07/obamas-bumblers-damage-military-voting-rights

      since the rank-and-file are paid shit wages thanks to the machinations of those same Republicans and tend, being poor and supporting families on wages that require public assistance (fully 40% of the US military families are so poor they qualify for food stamps!),

      Not true: "A 2003 Department of Defense study, the most recent available, found that 2,100 active-duty members received food stamps in 2002...The fact that some enlisted members and even a few officers received (food stamps) was more a result of larger household sizes and living in government quarters than an indicator of inadequate military compensation." http://www.military.com/news/article/2011/food-stamp-use-at-military-commissaries-up-sharply.html

      Oh, and let's not forget the machinations of Republicans trying to make it as difficult as possible for military spouses to vote in the state they live in when their spouse is shipped to another "home base" in another state. My aunt was disenfranchised by the lying Republican assholes for 5 years due to all that crap.

      Yes, I'm sure there is a giant conspiracy to prevent your aunt from voting. I don't think it takes 5 years to establish state residency anywhere.

    26. Re:Electronic Voting by Buelldozer · · Score: 1

      Oh Good Grief. REALLY? That's the best you can do?

      http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/pamphlets/largepamp.shtml

      Texas has more stringent requirements because they have issues with illegal aliens. A student ID card doesn't prove citizenship and neither does a VA card.

      Beyond that your point is ridiculous on its face. Veterans are more likely to vote conservative so why would they want to stop them from voting?

      So basically you, and the Guardian, need to go in the "Trolling trolls that trolling" bin.

      Consider yourself fed.

    27. Re:Electronic Voting by Straif · · Score: 1

      Most of the reports about absentee military ballots being denied involve the Democrat candidate. After a quick Google search you'd be hard pressed to find a story about people trying to directly eliminate military absentee votes that isn't about a Dem candidates. They ever go so far as to deny bulk military ballots, handled through military mail channels, because they were missing post stamps that were unavailable to them due to their deployment. Hell, just putting the words "military" and "vote" in any search regardless of other search terms will usually result in at least half the results being anti-military voting stories about the Dems.

      Even with the passage of the MOVE act overseas ballots have dropped because of the extremely slow action on the administrations part to actually enforce the act.

      You may also be one of the only people who believe that military votes break Dem; the Dems certainly don't think so. With the possible exception of the last Presidential election (and that's up for debate since it was closer than usual and no formal stats are taken that separate actual military votes) the majority of military votes have always been expected to go Republican.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
    28. Re:Electronic Voting by Algae_94 · · Score: 2

      Shouldn't proving citizenship occur when an individual registers? If one is registered to vote and was verified to be a citizen, the polling location only needs to verify they are who they say they are. A student ID card and VA card are both weak forms of proof of ID though. People should just go get a state issued ID if voting is that important to them.

    29. Re:Electronic Voting by Moryath · · Score: 1

      Yes, I'm sure there is a giant conspiracy to prevent your aunt from voting. I don't think it takes 5 years to establish state residency anywhere.

      Fuck you, asshole. The military shipped them around every year and a half, and then in 3 states, she had to fight with them over residency because the Republicans running voter registration were trying to claim that spouses living on military base property were not "in the state" for purposes of residency.

      If it's a giant Republican conspiracy, then why did Congress pass a law supporting absentee military ballots that Obama has been slow to implement?

      Let's read your article, shall we you fucking liar? First point: it's a 2009 law - e.g. BEFORE the Republicans took over Congress. So it'd be the DEMOCRATS trying to enfranchise the military. Interesting.

      Second point: They're comparing 2008 numbers (a Presidential election year) to 2010 numbers (an off year), but comparing by "percentage of military personnel." For reference comparison, in 2008, voter turnout in the US as a whole was 56.8%, while in 2010, it was only 37.8% - while at the same time, military participation (as a "percentage of eligible") declined from 5.5% to 4.6% VOTING ABSENTEE; the numbers by your dishonest "study" fail to account for military personnel attempting to vote in person stationed in the USA, and yes, most US military personnel are stationed at home. So if anything, Military absentee voting under the DEMOCRAT-passed MOVE Act beat the odds and didn't decrease as much as the national average, despite the transition between a Presidential election year and an off year.

      Now kindly pull your head out of your ass and stop quoting dishonest fucking right wing stooges.

    30. Re:Electronic Voting by Buelldozer · · Score: 1

      You didn't read the link I provided did you? If you had you wouldn't have asked that question.

      You register to vote by providing an acceptable form of ID that proves Citizenship, among other things. Within 30 days they will send you a Voter Registration Certificate.

      When you go to vote you take the VRC with you and you're golden.

      If you don't have your VRC with you then you may still vote but you will have to show some I.D. to prove who you are.

      Read the link, it's all clearly spelled out. Moryath's Guardian link is crap and so is their argument.

    31. Re:Electronic Voting by fsckmnky · · Score: 1

      You are confusing legal liability with professional integrity.

      It might or might not come as a surprise to you, but the police department, which you pay taxes to support, which is supposed to protect and serve, has no legal obligation to help you at all, at any time. Yet, most of the time, the majority of the time, they will indeed assist you.

      Legal liability != professional integrity.

    32. Re:Electronic Voting by fsckmnky · · Score: 0

      See my other post concerning this logical fallacy.

    33. Re:Electronic Voting by Reverand+Dave · · Score: 1

      You can't let thinking, reason, and facts get in the way of a good right wing rant, you should know that by now. Never mind that perhaps there may or may not have been some slight irregularities in one state in the 2008 elections that didn't decide the election. Does that really compare to the fiasco of the 2000 and 2004 elections that did swing the elections? I mean in 2000, bush didn't even come close to winning the popular vote doesn't really mean anything to some people.

      --
      I got here through a series of tubes
    34. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Source?

    35. Re:Electronic Voting by fsckmnky · · Score: 2

      "Justices Rule Police Do Not Have a Constitutional Duty to Protect Someone"

      WASHINGTON, June 27 - The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the police did not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm, even a woman who had obtained a court-issued protective order against a violent husband making an arrest mandatory for a violation.

      http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html

    36. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Fox were fabricating these stories out of thin air...

      They are. They admit that they do. A Florida appellate court upheld their right to do so in 2003, courtesy of the First Amendment.

      Wait... you mean... you didn't know??!!! You've been ... you've actually been believing Fox News? No, really? SRSLY?? wow. just... wow. What a mindjob!

      Citation?

    37. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd grown to appreciate Australia's compulsory voting while living in the UK (it stops the 'we would have won if it hadn't rained on election day, which unfairly disadvantaged our water-soluble voters' type of whinge), but hadn't realised that it actually prevents vote-rigging.

      You're right, getting to voters before they reach a polling booth is an ideal way to skew the system in a representative democracy. Because:
      * laws generally prohibit placing stumbling blocks that _prevent_ people going to vote,
      * which doesn't stop you putting stumbling blocks in place that merely make it selectively less likely for people to vote (eg not accepting student IDs), but don't actually preclude anyone. Then because of the law of large numbers, you skew the system with no more than a selective headwind.

      But if everyone is legally obliged to vote and fined if they don't (voter turnout is well in the 90s% even for the most boring federal election, and has been for decades), the scope for such abuse is limited.

    38. Re:Electronic Voting by neglogic · · Score: 1

      she had to fight with them over residency because the Republicans running voter registration were trying to claim that spouses living on military base property were not "in the state" for purposes of residency.

      So was she disenfranchised or not? You say "trying" as if they never succeeded.

      Let's read your article, shall we you fucking liar?

      What did I lie about? You claimed Republicans were trying to prevent military absentee ballots from being counted, I found a recent law that supports and encourages this practice, which apparently is being poorly implemented by Obama. The only lie is your assertion that Republicans are trying to prevent military from voting absentee, it looks like Obama is doing that all on his own.

      I couldn't follow the rest of your rant, it's just too convoluted.

    39. Re:Electronic Voting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get bent. See MY other post regarding the tired and obvious flaws in your logic

    40. Re:Electronic Voting by catmistake · · Score: 1

      I don't have to. There is no logical fallacy here. Nothing here has even been offerred up as an argument of logic. Do you even know what a fallacy is? Re-read my post. My post presents facts, not arguments.

    41. Re:Electronic Voting by sociocapitalist · · Score: 1

      Thank you for this but I have trouble with the words 'impossible to cheat'.

      The machines are bought by the government. The government is run by the very people who are doing the election fraud. It is impossible to have confidence in such machines that could all too easily have back doors built into them.

      We're talking ex-KGB here, who no doubt have all the technical know how and the will to pull it off.

      --
      blindly antisocialist = antisocial
    42. Re:Electronic Voting by sociocapitalist · · Score: 1

      Posting a link relevant to your post:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Akre

      --
      blindly antisocialist = antisocial
    43. Re:Electronic Voting by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Student IDs and VA cards aren't state issued, but drivers licenses and concealed carry permits are. But don't let facts get in the way of your bias.

      I'm not from the US, but wouldn't a US passport be federally issued too? Don't they count, or is it just that so few US citizens have them?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    44. Re:Electronic Voting by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      And every active military or veteran I know wouldn't ever for for a democrat.

      Vote. The word's vote. I'd have thought you'd have noticed it quite a few times already in a thread about voting.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    45. Re:Electronic Voting by catmistake · · Score: 1

      Posting a link relevant to your post:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Akre

      Thx for posting... I stand corrected... turns out it wasn't exactly a First Amendment issue. Interesting.

  5. obligatory... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    In Soviet Russia the government votes for you!

  6. Russians Know What Russia Is by bistromath007 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The ad should be retitled "Russia Doesn't Even Bother to Pretend to Have a Legitimate Election." Why would they? It's Russia. Historically speaking, it'd be weird to the point of unsettling if it weren't rotten to the core.

    1. Re:Russians Know What Russia Is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The ad should be retitled "Russia Doesn't Even Bother to Pretend to Have a Legitimate Election." Why would they? It's Russia. Historically speaking, it'd be weird to the point of unsettling if it weren't rotten to the core.

      Hell, it seems like every time things start looking up for the Russians, somebody comes in to actively undo everything positive, and crushes them further. I know some guys who defected to the US during the Cold War... they never seem to run out of horror stories to share about how much life sucked there, but what constantly amazes me was that they felt they got out of there before it REALLY went to hell...

    2. Re:Russians Know What Russia Is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rotten to the core? Yet it's still the largest country in the world and has lots of industry and high technology. It's really progressing nicely if you think about it:

      Feudalism Communism Crony capitalism

      The trend is up, when you think about it. One thing they really need to get is propaganda. They also need to shift the focus to consumer tech from military, but that's going step by step.

    3. Re:Russians Know What Russia Is by hedwards · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      As opposed to 2000 and 2004 when President Bush was "elected" before the ballots were completely counted. Or 2005 when the Georgia Governor's race was given to the GOP candidate after a set of mysterious patches were applied by Diebold to voting machines in Democrat leaning districts.

  7. Putin assures you that everything is fine by elrous0 · · Score: 2

    Look, he's even offering to throw a tea party for all of you with doubts. Drink up!

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:Putin assures you that everything is fine by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

      In unrelated news, there is an unexpected increase in purchases of polonium 209, an obscure radioactive isotope.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    2. Re:Putin assures you that everything is fine by Shienarier · · Score: 2

      This tea is radiant!

    3. Re:Putin assures you that everything is fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Look, he's even offering to throw a tea party for all of you with doubts. Drink up!

      Do you people know that Putin hasn't been the President of Russia since 2008?

    4. Re:Putin assures you that everything is fine by elrous0 · · Score: 2

      And you of course realize that he's currently running for President again, right?

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    5. Re:Putin assures you that everything is fine by Canazza · · Score: 1

      yes, but he's now the Prime Minister... since 2008.

      --
      It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
  8. s/Russia/America/g by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 0, Troll
    Publicly available results in America hint at fraud too:
    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volusia_error
    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_United_States_election_voting_controversies
    • http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0408/Vote-count-mishap-in-Wisconsin-election-raises-eyebrows-distrust
    --
    Palm trees and 8
    1. Re:s/Russia/America/g by AdamJS · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, yes. But 100% turnout from places that range from Apathetic to outright hatred of his Regime, and a majority vote for him? That's an entirely different level of bullshit than what Scott Walker could accomplish.

    2. Re:s/Russia/America/g by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      These are pretty different situations, i mean no one in the states would be ballsy enough to try to go "ahh fuck it, just put in we got all the votes from everyone".

      In the US they have to at least try to be SLIGHTLY subtle.

    3. Re:s/Russia/America/g by terrahertz · · Score: 5, Funny

      And that makes me proud to be an American.

      Our American leaders know we won't believe obvious fabrications like those goofy Russian yokels, so they temper the vote fraud just enough to fly under the radar. And thus they demonstrate how much more they respect the American people's intelligence than the Russian leaders respect their people's intelligence.

      Suck it, Russia! USA Number 1!

      --
      Slashdot? Oh, I just read it for the articles.
    4. Re:s/Russia/America/g by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is about Russia, not the US. Stay on topic.

    5. Re:s/Russia/America/g by JoshuaZ · · Score: 5, Informative

      Wow. Your first link is to an error that was literally caught within hours of it happening and didn't impact the final total. The other issues point to general incompetency and in some limited, local cases, actual fraud. That's really in the same category as nearly nation-wide fraud that looks centralized. And let's say for a hypothetical that the US election fraud problems were nearly as severe as the Russian ones or as severe. Guess what? That doesn't magically make them ok. That one country has problems doesn't make it ok when similar problems occur elsewhere.

    6. Re:s/Russia/America/g by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 2

      The Volusia county error looks more like a botched attack on a voting machine than an actual error -- especially in light of the fact that there was a real attack on those machines that involved making one candidate's vote total negative prior to the election. Also, show me in my post where I said anything was "OK" -- my point was that the United States has some serious issues with its own voting process, not that somehow the Russians are justified in what they do.

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    7. Re:s/Russia/America/g by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sooooooo.... In a discussion about Russia and its possible fraud you want to talk about America? How well is that working out for you?

    8. Re:s/Russia/America/g by jacks0n · · Score: 5, Insightful

      1. false equivalency. The fraud involved there is quantitatively and qualitatively worse.
      2. irrelevant. Illegal and immoral behavior in one country does not make it OK in another.

    9. Re:s/Russia/America/g by Nimey · · Score: 1

      Seriously. HAY GUISE LETS TALK ABOUT ME.

      Or is he a Putin supporter?

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    10. Re:s/Russia/America/g by borrel · · Score: 1

      so what about Democracy?
      it was the foundation of the "modern society".
      Now its capitalism with is the most important thing in the world.
      not people, not happiness, not doing the right thing
      only money, and now everybody is wondering why there is so match criminality;
      ill tell you: stealing = money and money = success how you get it is not important, everybody is stealing from everybody if they have the chance
      (company's and governments F**** you any chance they have)
      this is the "moral" that a "modern solidarity" has

    11. Re:s/Russia/America/g by gmuslera · · Score: 1

      Will be about everywhere if US takes actions somehow against Russia because that voting. You know, like defending with navy the protesters if they want to take down that government, or do some nasty computer virus to screw something there.

    12. Re:s/Russia/America/g by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apart from the democratic lake, I'm trying to figure out what you mean by the "your country" comment. Are you assuming that the poster was American? TFA itself is from a company that seems to have been contracted to review the data - so it's rather odd to blame them for doing so - and it's not obvious which nation they're from either, by the way.
      Or perhaps you are suggesting that Slashdot, by virtue of being an American based site, should not report on bad things happening outside US borders? An extremely odd position to take, given Slashdots focus.

      My only conclusion is that you're an extremely confused person, but please, do enlighten me.

    13. Re:s/Russia/America/g by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Alright, thank you for confirming my initial impression. You're not only overly aggressive and ignorant, but also unfamiliar with dictionaries. Pro tip: If you're about to lash out, at least make sure you're on solid ground before you say something embarrassing. "God damned arrogant", indeed. *Pssst, your fly is open.*

    14. Re:s/Russia/America/g by oPless · · Score: 1

      America isn't a democracy it's a “limited-government constitutional republic.”
      see: http://users.law.capital.edu/dmayer/Blog/blogIndex.asp?entry=20050606.asp

      I know wikipedia says "Federal presidential constitutional republic" But it gave up being a "Representative democracy" of the people when it erroneously allowed the fiction of corporate personhood to persist.

    15. Re:s/Russia/America/g by oPless · · Score: 1

      This is about Russia, not the US. Stay on topic.

      You must be new here.

    16. Re:s/Russia/America/g by scot4875 · · Score: 1

      Ahh, so obvious fraud is worse than subtle fraud. Gotcha.

      And don't put words in my mouth claiming that I think it's OK for fraud to happen in Russia because it happened in the States.

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    17. Re:s/Russia/America/g by Frangible · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, we don't bomb countries with abundant piles of nuclear weapons.

      Also, we can't understand why anyone would want nuclear weapons.

  9. What did you expect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In Soviet Russia, 137% vote for Putin!

    1. Re:What did you expect by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      I will take off my math skills for Putin!

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  10. In Soviet Russian elections... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ...candidate votes for YOU!

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  11. 100% for United Russia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess they really are united.

  12. Tell me about Russian politics by vlm · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Someone tell me/us about Russian politics. Does it matter?
    For example, here in the US, there is one party, with one set of goals (globalism, imperial global warfare everywhere, war on drugs, tax relief for the 1% and F the 99%, deindustrialize the country, expand the parasitical financial sector at all costs, etc). We have two independent marketing departments that put on a huge show to pacify the population into thinking it matters which marketing department did a better job, D or R. But, it doesn't really matter which side's marketing message was better, we'll have the same result in the end. We've had stolen elections here, but rioting about it would be as stupid as rioting about a sports game, or fighting over a card or board game, in other words some folks take advantage of the chaos to steal goods from stores, about a hundred people will show up on the news because they like being on the TV news, but most people wisely just don't care. Once you're beaten down, you're beaten down for good, here.

    Is it the same way in Russia, basically one party rule and it doesn't matter who wins, or does it really matter in terms of policies and leadership? I'm just trying to figure out if I should care, if this could in any way really affect anyone, or if this is like US politics where its about as important as a bad umpire call in a ice hockey game.

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    1. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You are full of shit. Go look at voting records in THOMAS, the parties do not advocate the same policies

    2. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by dhammond · · Score: 5, Informative

      What Russians are protesting right now is not who gets elected, but how they get elected. The protesters draw from a wide swath of political parties who agree on very little except that they want free and fair elections.

      The truth is that many Russians do think exactly the way you do. My mother-in-law is a Russian living in Moscow. She thinks maybe there was voter fraud, but only a little and not enough to matter. Putin is maybe corrupt, but only a little and look at all the good things he's done! Her overriding argument, though, is that there isn't anyone else worth electing, which is exactly how Putin has managed to arrange things.

      It's easy to be cynical here in America, but we do have real choices and who gets elected does matter. It would matter in Russia too if a real opposition candidate could live long enough to make it to election day.

    3. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

      So, step one in the "Becoming a Russian Candidate" process is shoot Putin before he shoots you?

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    4. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by rednip · · Score: 1

      Wow, that's a lot of effort for someone that doesn't care. Perhaps you get beaten down for good, but I don't.

      --
      The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
    5. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Luckyo · · Score: 2

      You do? Are you sure? You have a two-party system, completely rigged in favor of corporate elite. The only choice you have is who's lobby will be more powerful for next few years.

    6. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Ryn · · Score: 1

      Having lived through the fall of Communism and the ensuing implementation of market economy and democracy, also known as "selling off the country", I completely understand mistrust Russians have for government, but we're at least fairly open about the "elect the lesser of the two evils". Who else would you like to see in power? We joke about electing the same people for 2nd term because they spend the 1st one stealing as much as possible so they can build themselves a castle, and so maybe during the 2nd term they'll have enough and try to do something for the people as well.

    7. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by dhammond · · Score: 1

      I said real choice, not perfect choice. And yeah, I think that who gets elected matters. You can call me naive, but I think it's more naive to think that it doesn't.

    8. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      Yes, "real" choice means having an actual choice, more then choosing from two storefronts representing exactly the same shop. Perfect choice would mean having a separate shop for every issue, and I don't think anyone has been asking for that. I know I didn't.

    9. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by roman_mir · · Score: 1

      Russian politics right now are a hostage to the paradox of plenty or 'resource curse' - it's a problem that raw resource rich nations are facing, which is that the entire economy of a nation that can export near unlimited natural resources (especially energy), rotates around those exports and the government grows based on this export. The problem then becomes that the government is very rich, the individuals who are directly involved with the mining/export business become very rich, but the rest of the population is not allowed to voice their opinions, and they are lulled into complacency by a heavy system of taxes and rules (none of the rules apply to the ruling class, so it's a corrupt system), all of this destroys competition to government.

      The point is to prevent any competition to the ruling class and the mechanism is to ensure that nobody becomes influential and powerful enough, that there is no solid middle class - business class, that becomes a competitor to those in power.

      The reason why those in power don't want any competition is obvious - they get enormous amounts of money from the mineral/energy exporting businesses (I don't know the precise numbers, but I heard Putin has over 40 Billion US dollar fortune himself at this point. Certainly his personal wealth is huge, here is a little house he built in a very nice place on the Black sea.)

      So to prevent this money waterfall from stopping, they do everything possible, including murder of journalists and theft of the elections, corruption of the courts, destruction of personal liberties.

      The people who the top mafia bosses (like Putin) surround themselves with also want a nice piece of that pie, but they don't necessarily get to suck the oil from a pipe, so they end up stealing businesses, racketeering, profiting from organized crime, indeed organizing the criminal structures themselves, stealing property directly and indirectly, etc.etc. Starting your own private business in a country like that is almost always doomed to failure from the very start.

      But the money exists within the country, after all, the oil/gas/metals/wood/whatever it's all exported, so there is some money, so obviously there is trade with other countries. But because of the liberty crisis and because of all the criminality, the injustice that people see in courts there is almost no private domestic manufacturing taking place.

      There is almost no manufacturing and many of the farmers who try hard end up attacked, sometimes murdered and their farms (case of government forcing a chicken farmer out of business with false back-taxes), lands and equipment stolen and in many cases then just sold for scrap and destroyed.

      Because of that huge population lives off scraps and on a dole and the government in power provides that 'dole'. The problem is that the people are forced into poverty by government, where many of them would otherwise do something useful, start businesses, manufacturing, farming, mining of their own. But the government prevents them from this, the government is set up to prevent a business sector from growing and business middle class from appearing. A strong business class is a strong middle class that does not want to be ruled by a bunch of murdering thugs - dictators.

      So there you go, the Russian politicians have the motive, the resources an

    10. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by dhammond · · Score: 1

      I guess all I can say is that I disagree that republicans and democrats are identical.

    11. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Superficially they don't... thus why he said it depends on which marketing department did better.

      In the end, for anything that actually matters, it all ends up the same in the long run.

      But thanks for demonstrating for us exactly the type of person that their marketing works on. Good job on that one, bang on.

    12. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by mdarksbane · · Score: 2

      Just because both sides favor corporatism does not mean that they do not differ in other ways. Corporatism may be the most important aspect to *you*, but not to everyone.

      Moreover, there are factions within each party with different goals. The Tea Party is one example, even if you don't agree with them. Voting for president is never going to be meaningful - the office is representing too many different people. But between your senator, representative, governor, state representative, mayor, and city councilmen you have a decent chance of at least someone you electing have a viewpoint you can agree with.

      Just because the presidential candidates are bullshit doesn't mean the whole system is.

    13. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by scot4875 · · Score: 1

      One team is trying to extend payroll tax cuts to the 99%. The other team is holding those payroll tax cuts hostage until they get their pipeline grafted onto the bill. Go take your false equivalence somewhere else.

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    14. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Fallingcow · · Score: 1
    15. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or if this is like US politics where its about as important as a bad umpire call in a ice hockey game.

      You know, the only part of what you said that I found ridiculous was that you didn't know hockey had referees, not umpires. I'm going to go back to slouching in my chair now.

    16. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Shompol · · Score: 1

      Excellent article badly in need of modding up. This phenomenon is known as the "Dutch Disease", although the reasoning about the middle class being suppressed is new to me. Do you think there is a similar issue in US, where the rich-poor gap is growing by the year?

    17. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Shompol · · Score: 1

      we do have real choices and who gets elected

      Disclaimer: a Real Choice(TM) can be made from at most two candidates, residents of "swing states" only. Both nominees are funded and provided for your entertainment by the same group of "big money"

    18. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As others have said here, the R and D are different in minor things, such as the color of lipstick they wear.

      But on the really important issues, such as whether to start another war, cut Social Security, or bail out the banksters with $17 trillion of taxpayer money, the two parties have become essentially indistinguishable -- if you pay attention to what they actually do when in power, as opposed to what they say.

    19. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      It's easy to be cynical here in America, but we do have real choices and who gets elected does matter.

      Shit elections have been rigged in the US for years now. We don't have real choices. We don't have real opposition candidates or real elections.

    20. Re:Tell me about Russian politics by roman_mir · · Score: 1

      Of-course the same thing applies to the US politics and economics, as the government grows, it feeds and grows because it is able to steal many of the freedoms that private individuals used to have, so the Constitution is completely ignored, as the State is giving itself more and more power and it is able to do so by corrupting the judges and the entire 'justice system' is also a cover for this regime.

      Unfortunately in US all of the government institutions have failed in their main role - protection of private liberty and property and law. There is more than one law, and the strictest law is applied to the powerless, to the poorest, to the competition. The least amount of law applies to the politicians, big bankers and other huge business owners, cops and judges. None of them are responsible for anything and none of them are held accountable for anything really, and in rare cases when they are, it's just a little fodder, the institution stays on the same course - more and more corruption via government theft of power and sale of that power to the highest bidders.

      The mechanisms are very similar in both countries, USA and Russia, it's just in Russia it's not as pretentious, in fact corruption in Russia is quite transparent and very brutal. There is very little pretense, unlike in USA, where everything is built upon a huge pretense that the laws are still equally applied to the people, but that's nonsense.

      Another huge difference is the second amendment, and though the liberals/progressives are generally against the right to bear arms, maybe that is the only real protection that people have left when the final push comes to shove (obviously there is also law nullification, but actually people are even thrown to jail by the judges for mentioning it to the juries).

  13. It's not for the first time that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone's simplistic models do not explain observed facts. Therefore facts must be wrong.

    K.L.M.

  14. 2011 in a nutshell: by korgitser · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Russians are on the street protesting.
    Americans are on the street protesting.
    Europeans are on the street protesting.
    The middle east is on the street protesting.
    Africa is on the street protesting.
    Dose anyone know a place where people are actually happy with their government?

    --
    FCKGW 09F9 42
    1. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by boysenberry · · Score: 1

      Maybe you're exaggerating just a wee bit there?

    2. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe the life on Mars is happy? They just keep hiding from Us.

    3. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Can you name a period of time where people have been happy with their government? In a democracy, politics is about compromise, which means that nobody really gets what they want, and in non-democratic systems of government there is a large group of people who never get what they want. It is fairly rare for people to be satisfied with their government.

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    4. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah! Who has ever seen a geographical feature protest anything!? Much less on a street. I certainly have not.

    5. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by jimicus · · Score: 2

      Not entirely true. Apparently the whole of Russia is so delighted with their government they have, to a man, voted them all back in again.

    6. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Amouth · · Score: 1

      given our track record i would hide too

      --
      '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
    7. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Taiwan probably.

    8. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Nanosphere · · Score: 2

      Russians are on the street protesting. Americans are on the street protesting. Europeans are on the street protesting. The middle east is on the street protesting. Africa is on the street protesting. Dose anyone know a place where people are actually happy with their government?

      Corruption Perceptions Index
      Eurozone

      Pick anyone that is high on the first list but not on the second list.

      Granted everyone has their own sets of challenges to deal with.

    9. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Pecisk · · Score: 1

      Oversimplified, protests are for different reasons. They are connected, but not fully.

      Russians protest against their leadership don't care about their voice, and what most important - they haven't delivered nothing they promised in exchange. So it has moral and also quite practical basis for Russians anger.

      Americans and Europeans this year protest mostly against *system* - t.i. you can elect different people, they can try to fix it, but in the end system will prevail. See what happened to UK PM Cameron when he had to decide control & tax City or not. Of course he decided against it, claiming that it is against "country interests". Also people start to understand that capitalism has serious flaws and it is quite possible that we can't fix them (unless people with money start to listen to reason).

      Also Europeans try to protest against austirity, but I see it as wrong target - we can't escape from need to shorten our expenses. What we need to say in one voice that rich people should bear more. It's not that I'm against them, but they will feel much less impact. If you will take away from foor and middle class - it won't be pretty.

      But in nutshell austerity is needed. We can't say "stupid evil bankers" and require for them to pay our bills. Tax them, allright, but spend less too.

      Middle East and Africa did protest about same reasons as Russians - more democracy, more delivering on results, more caring about nation. Again, for idealistic and practical reasons at once.

      --
      user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
    10. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Pitcairn Islands?
      Population - 60

    11. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by korgitser · · Score: 1

      Middle East and Africa did protest about same reasons as Russians - more democracy, more delivering on results, more caring about nation

      Actually these three reasons are exactly behind the different western protests too. It is just that the lack of democracy, results and caring manifest themselves somewhat different in different places because of the local historical urandom.
      Without going too deep on the matter, I personally do not think that capitalism or any system is particularly flawed, other than the fact that any system is blind to some problems. What you end up with depends on the people who make decisions, and we are yet to discover a way to guarantee the decision-makers good will and caring. So this far it has always ended with revolutions and civil wars, with the possible end of a culture in the process.
      What makes me awe is the fact that connecting on the internet, the whole world seems to call bullshit on the government at the same time. What a platform we geeks have built. Makes me wonder where it all will end...

      --
      FCKGW 09F9 42
    12. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by dontuhatepants · · Score: 1

      Dose (sic) anyone know a place where people are actually happy with their government?

      Somalia?

    13. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's exactly what my government says before they, yet again, bend me over...

    14. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by RoLi · · Score: 1

      Can you name a period of time where people have been happy with their government?

      You don't seem to know a lot about history. In WWI, people volunteered to give their life for their government. (Although that changed after the war just dragged on and on)

      Look at congressional approval ratings: http://www.gallup.com/poll/145238/congress-job-approval-rating-worst-gallup-history.aspx

      But that was last year. This year:

      http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_performance

    15. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Antarctica?

    16. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Karljohan · · Score: 1

      Funny you should ask - the people in Sweden are actually pretty happy with their government at the moment.

    17. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      scandinavia

    18. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Hazelfield · · Score: 1

      No, but I can add a place where people have been equally unhappy without their government: Belgium.

    19. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Dose anyone know a place where people are actually happy with their government?

      Well, if you're going by "on the street protesting" as the metric of happiness with the government, that would probably be DPRK. ~

    20. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Life is good in Australia.

    21. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Switzerland.

    22. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...and (I forgot to mention): Iceland.

    23. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can you name a period of time where people have been happy with their government?

      There's a pretty significant difference between people grumbling about their government, and people risking arrest, assault, or even possibly their very lives in protests.

      In a democracy, politics is about compromise

      Could someone please tell Congress that? Because right now it looks like in the USA, politics is about refusing to budge an inch and then blaming your opponent for not giving you everything you demanded.

    24. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bhutan.

    25. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 1

      You don't seem to know a lot about history. In WWI, people volunteered to give their life for their government

      Right now we have an all-volunteer army -- so I guess people are happy with the US government in 2011?

      --
      Palm trees and 8
    26. Re:2011 in a nutshell: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      New Zealand, where the current leading party just got re-elected with a slightly increased margin, and everyone seems quite accepting of it.

      Oh, and the closest thing to terrorism was when a local protester nearly cut down a (somewhat famous) tree, a few years back.

      Still, there must be a downside, no wait, there isnt.

  15. Frank Stallone by kryliss · · Score: 1

    *Crosses arms while American flag waves in the background* "F(BLEEP)in" stupid Russians!"

    --
    --- If the bible proves the existence of God, then Superman comics prove the existence of Superman.
    1. Re:Frank Stallone by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      Ironic that he was on a show about stupid people doing stupid things.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  16. Election Commission Website link by raftpeople · · Score: 1

    WOT is showing that link is "red"...get it...

  17. There is nothing suspicious in statistics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Similar charts could obtained when results for opposition parties are plotted. Russia is BIG with large political swings and different voter activity depending on the region. Those are non independent variables, as result if significantly large and diverse region is taken . i.e Moscow the distributions are non Gaussian and multi-modal. The very similar looking distributions could be obtained for example for ultra-liberal "Jabloko" party.

  18. corrupt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I Guess its a very good thing, people came to demostrate for their rights! I would say that putin has to go home! Everybody knows that russia is corrupt. Its time to end it!

  19. sorry, couldn't read the story. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was obscured by a dimpled chad.

  20. Russia just took a lesson from us in Chicago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The old saw about "voting early, and voting often" and shuttle buses to the polling places from all of the local cemetaries, a fine old tradition here in Chicago, was duly hijacked by Russia. At least they are not flying in the face of a tradition that we started... :rolleyes:

  21. I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Mysticalfruit · · Score: 2

    So, United Russian wants to make themselves look "legitimate"?

    How is releasing results that confirm blatant voter fraud helping their argument? This is only going to bolster the opposition who'll hold these results up and say "See... see how they fucked us all!"

    It appears to me that Putin and his political machine are if anything, not stupid. They want to stay in power, indefinitely. This does not achieve this aim.

    I can only imagine that there's an angle to this story that my westernized perspective and extremely poor understanding of Russian culture/politics can't quite grasp.

    Please Russian slashdotters... please explain this!

    --
    Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
    1. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Luckyo · · Score: 2, Informative

      For the record, the only ones "doubting legitimacy" of United Russia are people abroad who really want to doubt it. When you ask people on the street, you essentially have two tiers: those who support it, and those who think that progress has stalled in last few years and they want to shake it up (i.e. protest movement).

      Putin will still get elected, legitimately. According to Gallup he still has ~50-60% popular support in adult population (which is slowly dwindling). His main competition are communists (who are mainly supported by old people who want to go back to the familiar old system) and ultra nationalists (who are something of a joke, but a funny one). The West-supported folks we see on news here basically command support of those they pay off and no one else.

      The main complaint seems to be with United Russia basically taking its power for granted and having stopped reforming, fighting corruption and raising standard of living. This is a very valid concern, but there are simply no alternatives, so it seems that disenfranchised voters see that there is no alternative and simply don't show up to vote. This resulted in low turnout and lower amount of votes for United Russia, so relatively small amount of fraud "corrected" the numbers to allow them to maintain majority.

      P.S. I'm not russian, but I speak the language fluently and pick on quite a bit from reading news in russian.

    2. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think that's bad? They released the results two weeks before the election!

    3. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Low turn-out of voters does not excuse the fraud under the pretense of "They would have voted this way anyway".

    4. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      United Russia basically taking its power for granted and having stopped reforming, fighting corruption and raising standard of living.

      When did United Russia start reforming and fighting corruption?

      Or, by "reforming", do you mean electoral reforms like making regional governors being appointed by president rather than elected by the populace, ditching "none of the above" from the ballot, removing minimal turnout requirement for elections, raising barrier of entry to the parliament to 7% (which nicely cuts out all the pro-western liberal parties), and extending presidential term to 6 years? If so, then what in this list is beneficial to Russian citizens?

    5. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by richlv · · Score: 1

      there's actually a huge amount of internal reports of, well, theater of election.

      for you, http://cifidiol.livejournal.com/1600.html?thread=25664 might be interesting - maybe google translate helps for others

      --
      Rich
    6. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by ringm000 · · Score: 2

      Russian here. First, it might seem to you that powers that be can simply fabricate whatever data they want, but this is not the case. The elections are presented as democratic, they are monitored to some extent, and this year monitoring was more efficient than in any previous elections, so fraud is non-trivial. The most typical method is ballot stuffing and it is detectable using statistical methods.

      Second, you're overestimating the "political machine". There was no properly designed fraud with some super-intelligent planning at the top. It would require proper coordination and commitment on all levels, not to mention some real skill, while in a corrupt government lower levels always try to reap whatever they can for themselves, while pulling the wool over eyes of upper levels. That's how the whole thing eventually falls apart. What upper levels care most about? Local election results. So the lower levels clumsily try to fabricate them.

      The fraud wasn't even that blatant. By different estimates, only 1/3 to 1/5 of the votes United Russia got were fraudulent.

    7. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fraud wasn't even that blatant. By different estimates, only 1/3 to 1/5 of the votes United Russia got were fraudulent.

      And that's considered acceptable?

    8. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      In 2000 or so, when Putin came to power. You can see the results in standards of living, average salary went from around 455 USD to 7680USD. That's almost twenty times in just eight years of rule - consider the numbers for a moment before you quote your favorite "but Russia is corrupt" stooge. These are changes that average people see in their every day lives and they have been massive, and if you ask people who actually live there, rather then stooges hired by specific parties and often interviewed in Western media, they will tell you this.

      As mentioned above, the main reason Putin is no longer as popular as he was before was because these positive changes have been visibly stalled.

    9. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      I agree, I'm merely pointing out that from Western point of view, United Russia is still a better choice then two other meaningful options, and that we're mostly lucky that the "opposition parties" aren't getting a lot more votes, but instead less people seem to be voting.

      I would really hate to see Russia being led by communists or even worse, ultra-nationalists.

    10. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They've started posting results online back in early 2000s when fraud wasn't that large-scale and apparent. At some point, they tried to remove this data but backed up after some outcry.

      Anyway, Internet users already hate them (United Russia had 5-15% in online polls) and Putin's strategy has been to keep it only in cyberspace. So they control TV very well and make sure that the majority of the population only hears the "right" news. But as the Internet gets more available (especially in Moscow and other big cities), this approach stops working. It's one of the reasons for the huge protests in Moscow & St Petersburg.

      PS: I am Russian.

    11. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      I lived in Russia until 2009, and still hold citizenship. I've seen Putin's takeover and all of his time as president firsthand, and I still have parents who live there, and plenty of friends. Many of them were on the Saturday demonstration against the corrupt fraudsters in power. The only hired stooge here is you.

      Anyway, if everyone's so happy with Putin and his cronies, why such blatant electoral fraud? You can spout all you want about Western money, and you can pretend that government's claims that all those YouTube videos clearly showcasing fraud were "filmed in advance in specially prepared fake voting stations" is not obvious bullshit, but the numbers don't lie - which is precisely what TFA is about. There is a huge number of glaring irregularities once the numbers are aggregated and processed, ranging from the obvious ones like 100% turnout and 100% vote for United Russia in Caucasus (which is still a hotbed of separatist insurgency); to less obvious but still bullshit-y distribution of votes, where all parties have lognormal distributions (as statistics says they should), and only UR has a nearly straight line from 25% all the way to 100%; to "Churov's saw", the abnormally high number of electoral districts where UR has shows a neat round number of votes - 50%, 60%, 70% etc - and which is only observed for UR. And, even so, despite all the effort, they only ended up with 49% - realistically, I wouldn't give them more than a third of votes in a fair election, about the same as commies. So much for "positive changes".

    12. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      Worth noting, I worked with people in Russian market throughout last 15 years in on-off relationship and have a fairly decent view on what happened in there from corporate perspective. From moments like paying people under the table in cash "for repairs" to get permits, to simply having to watch over russian workmen and having to teach them that drinking on the job is unacceptable, I've encountered a lot of very interesting parts of their culture. That said, I've also observed the change, and these are my observations: of a person that worked in that market, met and known (and still knows) people who live there, in some cases intimately.

      You point of view may differ from mine, but if there's one thing that I am not, that is a paid stooge. Or stooge in general. My main interests are that Russia doesn't sink in the same economic hole it was in the end of last millenium, so that my job prospects on that market remain positive. And having communists in power would put that possibility into "very likely" category.

      Does this help you understand my point of view, and why I view stable continuation of current power structure as an overall positive?

    13. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Does this help you understand my point of view, and why I view stable continuation of current power structure as an overall positive?

      Yes. You just want business as usual, and don't care about political freedom otherwise. Hence, you prefer a non-elected government that will give you what you want in the foreseeable future, over an elected one that is less predictable. There's plenty of people in Russia itself that hold to the same view, under the slogan of "don't rock the boat". Usually, it's the local 1%. I don't see why they should get to run the country, since they're not the only ones actually living in it.

      Having communists in power is not a likely outcome in any case. If the elections were fair, we'd be looking at UR and commies balancing each other, each with about a third of the seats (more likely 35% UR and 25% commies, but perhaps it's just my bias against the latter), with the rest filled by a hodge-podge of democratic socialist, nationalist and liberal parties. No-one would have the majority, so they'd have to compromise - as it should be.

      Nothing Putin did was magic, and Russian economy won't spiral down just because of his demise. If anything, if any new government that'd take over would stop pressuring small and medium business to protect the interests of big boys, and would stop the massive corruption schemes (as I'm sure you're well aware, doing business in Russia, "otkat" makes for a very large part of the GDP) - why, it might even be possible to have some sane variety of free market capitalism yet to bloom - since we never had that in 90s, when it got mired in corruption from the get go.

    14. Re:I see what your Putin down, not buying it... by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      Thanks, I never imagined to be mentioned as "top 1%". I'm nowhere near wealthy enough, at least in my home country. I don't think I'm wealthy enough even by russian standards to qualify.

      Anyway, I disagree with "nothing he did was magic" in sense that much of what he did improved lives of people. Quite a fewmy former employers/contractors want to sell to russian consumer, which would in turn require significant buying power from said consumer. Pre-Putin that was in the shitter and sales were marginal at best. Right now, it's on a very good level, and stuff like diary products from my country sells really well, and we have a big influx of middle class (not top 1% as you put it, but real MIDDLE class) buying properties in the border region and spending money on tourism in that region. Economy on our eastern border has gotten out of shitter and is quite well off because of that. This simply didn't exist ten years ago.

      In other words, what Putin did in eight-ten years is very visibly different from what was done in eight-ten years before him on both sides of the border. Imho that difference is indeed "magic" in terms of success, and is often dismissed by critics when it really shouldn't be - when you increase average salary of your people by almost twenty times in less then a decade, you deserve recognition.

  22. There'd be no question of fraud if... by Tastecicles · · Score: 1

    ...they'd got Diebold machines in.

    --
    Operation Guillotine is in effect.
  23. Videos documenting election fraud by jbrax · · Score: 2
    1. Re:Videos documenting election fraud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, literal vote stuffing. Apparently these are absentee votes being stuffed?

  24. There's no question fraud is happening. by jiteo · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have family in Russia. One of them told me about their colleague, a woman who's responsible for signing the ballot count. The votes are counted, the Communist Party is a clear winner in that riding, and she signs. Someone from United Russia then brings her a different paper, with the count modified to make United Russia (Putin's party) win. She says "I can't sign this, this is fraud." "Sign it." "No, I can't." "Sign it or you'll lose your job." Her meager salary is already not enough to live on, she can't afford to lose it. So she signs.

    1. Re:There's no question fraud is happening. by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      sheesh. pepper spray too expensive the the russians?

      at least we can show them how we control our OWN people when the gov needs to do a smackdown.

      no need to fire someone; just chemically subdue them if they don't follow your wishes!

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    2. Re:There's no question fraud is happening. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pepper spray is more expensive than a club.

      I'd take pepper spray.

    3. Re:There's no question fraud is happening. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so, it's comes to us on account of a colleague of a family member of slashdot user? must be 100% legit info.

  25. Hint at fraud? by KBehemoth · · Score: 0

    Reek of fraud would be a better choice of words. Spew forth a putrid stench of fraud, even. Bash you over the head with a hammer of fraud in a dark alley of fraud, leaving you bleeding and unconscious in a puddle of fraud as dismal raindrops of fraud fall from a fraudulent sky.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is that it was very likely fraud.

    1. Re:Hint at fraud? by gotfork · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I know. As several people have pointed out so far, the 3.5 million is a gross underestimate. We plan to do a more in-depth analysis soon.

    2. Re:Hint at fraud? by temcat · · Score: 1

      Wow, for some reason the word "putrid" seems especially well-suited to describe the situation.

  26. What did you expect? by drew_92123 · · Score: 1

    Of course the results are fraudulent... they just aren't as good at hiding that shit as our politicians are. Of course, over there they just shoot people for asking the wrong questions whereas over here the government pretends to give a shit and gives politicians a slap on the wrist for getting caught...

    1. Re:What did you expect? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Of course, over there they just shoot people for asking the wrong questions

      No, they don't shoot people for asking the wrong questions in Russia.

      I understand that international politics is confusing to Americans, but, please, learn to distinguish between Russia and Syria. I understand that both end with "ia" and have "r" somewhere, making it extremely confusing, but I'm sure with some effort this can be done.

      Russia has a lot of problems, both with economics and with politics, and it is definitely not a democratic country today. But it's not a totalitarian regime, either. For example, last Saturday, about 50k people have assembled on an officially sanctioned demonstration to protest electoral fraud. None of them were shot.

  27. Can you make that claim though? by serenevic · · Score: 1

    The thing is that the author of such analysis makes the claim that the % of votes for a particular party does not depend on voter turnout. He thinks that percentage does not change, regardless of whether you have 10% turnout or 100% turnout. That's the lynchpin of his argument. I am not sure one can make that claim. You would have to be a sociologist, not a mathematician.

    1. Re:Can you make that claim though? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      His point is that this percentage doesn't change like that for any other party, just for the one that won the elections. I believe they've also brought in some statistical data from other elections that show that this still holds as a rule.

      That said, it's not a single inconsistency. There's a wealth of statistical data to make a clear case for fraud, some of it is pretty subtle. For example, they have made a graph where they have plotted the number of electoral districts reporting a certain percentage of votes for a given party. For United Russia - and only for it - you see clear spikes in the graph at 50%, 60%, 70% etc - which are not there for any other party. In other words, an anomalously high number of electoral districts have reported round numbers for United Russia - as would be the case if they had a certain number they had to match. The most prominent spikes are at 50%, with a steep slope downwards at 49% suddenly inverting at 50% (the slope at 49% likely represents the real downward curve of lognormal distribution), and at 100% - that latter is Chechnya etc, where there was no pretense at free elections at all.

      Statisticians have already nicknamed it "Churov's saw" (Churov is the head of the Russian Central Eelectoral Commission).

    2. Re:Can you make that claim though? by gotfork · · Score: 1

      I can't believe we missed this! I just turned down the bin size on the histograms and it really sticks out. What post did you first see it on? Thanks!

    3. Re:Can you make that claim though? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      It all comes out of LiveJournal of this guy, which has a wealth of statistical analysis on the subject. This particular graph first appeared here, and I see that it was recently analyzed in more detail here

    4. Re:Can you make that claim though? by gotfork · · Score: 1

      Thanks! I will make sure to give him credit for this find and take a closer look at his work. In the meantime I just recreated the same thing in english at http://samarcandanalytics.com/election_data/Figures/FineHistInset_large.png and will work a discussion of it into the next draft.

  28. North Korea by dutchwhizzman · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't see any protesters there. It must be the happiest place on the planet.

    --
    I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
    1. Re:North Korea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      North Korea is Best Korea.

    2. Re:North Korea by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      North Korea is the only Korea.

      (According to Democratic People's Republic of Korea).

  29. Just enough fraud to win by lacoronus · · Score: 1

    Looking at the totals at the bottom of the article, the fraud would only lower the votes for Putin's United Russia by 6 percentage units. However, this would be enough to make a coalition of the second, third and fourth party larger than United Russia.

    1. Re:Just enough fraud to win by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      second + third + fourth = comunist + socialist(?) + nationalist
      Will this be more palatable than "the party of crooks & thieves"?
      Just a naive question..

    2. Re:Just enough fraud to win by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      For Russian-wide results it's about 15% which would make a coalition of several opposition parties actually possible. I've tried curve-fitting analysis myself.

    3. Re:Just enough fraud to win by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Yes, it probably would. It would mean that they spend more time fighting each other, and less time trying to screw the people (not that all of them wouldn't want to, they'd just be disagreeing on the precise manner in which it should be done).

    4. Re:Just enough fraud to win by gotfork · · Score: 1

      I have heard several people also end up with a number right around 15%. For example: http://eugenyboger.livejournal.com/4514.html?thread=53410#t53410 Our current number is a lower bound only, we'll try to get a better estimate at some point.

  30. Well knock me over with a feather! by buybuydandavis · · Score: 1

    A kleptocracy run by exKGB (current KGB?) who stifles speech and protest "against the national interest" has some voting irregularities. Who woulda thunk it?

  31. Election Fraud by DaMattster · · Score: 1

    I think election fraud is more common in Democracies than one would think or, at the very least, attempts are common. One only need point out the Diebold electronic voting machine scandal where a purported "bug" skewed election results in favor of the Republicans. While there is a remote possibility that this was an honest bug, I am not naive enough to believe it. Diebold refused to divulge their code and the machines didn't even have any auditing facilities. It is absolutely ripe for manipulation and enough money secretly changing hands can sway an election. I guess an honest politician is mostly an oxymoron.

    1. Re:Election Fraud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Further, I believe it was the president of Die Bold who told G.W. Bush that he was going to do everything possible to make sure he gets elected. That sounds like quite a conflict of interest coming from someone who operates a voting machine company.

  32. At least they're rioting. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In America, it's been done at least 3 times, and there was no riot, hardly any protest, and those few who did stand up against it were told to get back in line and not make a fuss.

    Who can name the three times? And no, picking Lincoln doesn't count.

  33. Putin's advisor to Putin by CSMoran · · Score: 1

    Putin's advisor says:
    - ... Mr. Putin, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is your party only got 15% of the votes...
    - And the good news?
    - You still won!

    --
    Every end has half a stick.
  34. Oh come on. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the Russian authorities are going to commit electoral fraud, do you think they are going to do it by having a 100% turnout with 100% voting for United Russia?

    1. Re:Oh come on. by monoqlith · · Score: 1

      Yes. If they really aren't concerned with international intervention or bottom-up revolution that is exactly what they would do to remain in power.

  35. Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protests by roman_mir · · Score: 4, Informative

    Of-course it is all fraud, there are plenty of videos shot during the elections of so called 'carousel' (merry go-round) voters, who were paid to go and vote multiple times in dozens of locations for United Russia. There are cases of just stealing the final results and replacing them with fake pro-United Russia results. There are cases of pre-made voting ballots being thrown into the voting urns, all this is true.

    But after the anti-Putin protest that happened last week, with over 40 thousand people attending just in Moscow (video) Here is a video of the anti-anti-Putin protesters (so pro-United Russia protest), that just happened, and this so called 'protest' was shown on the First Channel (main pro-government TV channel), saying that there were 25 thousand people in the crowd, which is nonsense, but more interestingly what kind of people were there. In that video the attendees are asked why did they come to this 'protest' and they either don't respond, or they are drunk and respond with pure nonsense, or they barely speak Russian (don't forget, United Russia) and they don't even understand the question well, but they answer that they are here at work or from their work.

    So it's a sham, everything, start to finish (related videos to that one show people being invited to these pro-Putin protests with promises of money). Then there is this video, where people are being paid just after the pro-Putin protest. A girl in the video says: this is how we sell out Russia.

    Yes, it's a sham.

  36. WOW to be as OPEN as RUSSIA!!! by gavron · · Score: 0

    The US won't put voting results online. Won't make them public. Won't allow analysis.

    Wow, we're worse than RUSSIA!!!

    I suppose maybe before we whine about THEIR elections we should make ours as transparent and fair.

    Good luck with that.

    E

    1. Re:WOW to be as OPEN as RUSSIA!!! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      The US won't put voting results online. Won't make them public. Won't allow analysis.

      Some precincts do. If yours doesn't, change your local laws.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:WOW to be as OPEN as RUSSIA!!! by arkenian · · Score: 1

      The US won't put voting results online. Won't make them public. Won't allow analysis.

      Wow, we're worse than RUSSIA!!!

      I suppose maybe before we whine about THEIR elections we should make ours as transparent and fair.

      Good luck with that.

      E

      huh? In almost every state in the union you can watch the unofficial counts come in live to the secretary of state, and you can read the vote totals anywhere else you want.... Many voting precincts physically post the voter registration rolls on the walls, so you can estimate turnout just by looking to see who hasn't signed . . .

      Don't get me wrong, fraud is hardly unknown in US elections, but it generally only comes into play when the vote is very, very, close. Electronic voting machine issues aside, which really are being worked, for good or for ill.

      All that said, I don't think this study IS necessarily PROOF of voter fraud. Its indicative, but without demographic analysis of the precincts involved, etc. (for example a precinct in Checnya could easily be 100% turnout, and possibly even 100% UFR if its a military base) Likewise, in the 2004 elections in ohio, republican precincts, which tended to be wealthier and less urban, had higher turnouts than democratic precincts. While there are a number of reasons for this, including accusations of suppression that have, in my opinion, varying degrees of validity (I was part of a GOTV effort myself, on behalf of the democrats that year, since I was unemployed and bored), some of it was just the nature of the people and their circumstances.

      Personally, I think, based on what we've heard, that there WAS fraud, and at least some districts need/deserve a new vote, but proving voter fraud statistically is . . . difficult.

    3. Re:WOW to be as OPEN as RUSSIA!!! by dhammond · · Score: 1

      Not sure where you live, but here in Virginia online election results are posted throughout election night and kept up for anyone to see:
      http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Election_Information/Election_Results/Index.html

    4. Re:WOW to be as OPEN as RUSSIA!!! by gavron · · Score: 1

      Not sure where ALL of YOU live,

      But in the United States, the Presidential Elections (that's what we were talking about)
      are NOT counted live, are not online, and votes are not verifiable.

      So take you "in my precinct" and "in my parish" and" in my county" attitude and shove it.

      US Presidential elections are not transparent.

      E

  37. Yes Belgians by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 1

    Well, for most of 2011 at least.

    For those not following the news, Belgium was without a government for the longest time in history, closing in on two years before FINALLY a government formed at the end of this year.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:Yes Belgians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hear their politicians waffle on the issues.

    2. Re:Yes Belgians by HyperQuantum · · Score: 1

      And you say that because a government was formed, people are happy with it?

      --
      I am not really here right now.
  38. Iceland! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Russians are on the street protesting.
    Americans are on the street protesting.
    Europeans are on the street protesting.
    The middle east is on the street protesting.
    Africa is on the street protesting.
    Dose anyone know a place where people are actually happy with their government?

    Iceland - they nationalised the banks and told the IMF to fuck off.

    They devalued their currency, and their economy is now growing.

    The President and Prime Minister are very popular.

  39. Little bit of logic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    why the US can't manage to get 50% turnout even in a presidential election year

    Because they don't want what government is trying to sell them (i.e. more government).

    When you vote, you vote for more government, no matter who you vote for. How do I know this? Because in a system which claims to offer these two distinct choices -- more government and less government -- the only result has been more government.

    Conclusion: You can't vote for less government, because less government isn't a true choice, but merely lip service.

    1. Re:Little bit of logic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you vote, you vote for more government, no matter who you vote for. How do I know this? Because Ron Paul beamed it into my brain through my tinfoil receiving antenna hat. We gotta git this Obama socialist out of the white house before those blacks steal everything from us.

      FTFY.

    2. Re:Little bit of logic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You seem to think I actually have a stake in US politics. My point was that I do NOT have a stake, and that is precisely why I don't vote -- or to put it nicely, I just don't give a damn.

      Goverment is a religion, and I am an athiest. Still got the urge to direct your hatred towards me? If you vote, then I am not your friend -- but I am not your enemy either. Your enemies are the ones who voted against you, not the ones who simply make the pot bigger with no strings attached. You should be glad the pot is bigger. That's exactly why you vote, isn't it?

  40. Pushkin summarized it nicely in 1823: by Vadim+Makarov · · Score: 1

    So graze on, graze, you peaceful peoples!
    You will not wake to honor’s call.
    What need have herds for gifts of freedom?
    They’re used to shears and butcher’s stall.

    (Original in Russian here. Could not pass /. junk filter.)

    Sigh. Four years ago, United Russia fraudulently got the 2/3 majority in the current parliament, in the same way, with all the same-looking statistics. This parliament passed, without a contest, some "nice" constitution changes (extending the presidential term from four to six years, extending the parliamentary term from four to five years). Now United Russia has a simple majority, by fraud. Yeah, these are "very minor inconsistencies not affecting the election outcome", as Putin has replied the protesters days ago.

    It's easy to say "the party of crooks and thieves," but the problem that lets this happen is deeper... it's in the people, in the deeply rooted customs of the country.

    --
    17779 eligible voters in a district, 17779 'vote' as one. This is Russia.
  41. Corporations Paid More to Lobby Congress Than Tax by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Informative

    Those horrible, corrupt foreign Governments.

    30 Major U.S. Corporations Paid More to Lobby Congress Than Income Taxes, 2008-2010

    "Despite a growing federal deficit and the widespread economic stability that has swept the U.S since 2008, the companies in question managed to accumulate profits of $164 billion between 2008 and 2010, while receiving combined tax rebates totaling almost $11 billion. Moreover, Public Campaign reports these companies spent about $476 million during the same period to lobby the U.S. Congress, as well as another $22 million on federal campaigns, while in some instances laying off employees and increasing executive compensation."

    To keep profits inflated by capturing legislation, favorable to their businesses. Free market, my arsehol3.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  42. Re:Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And do you have to propose for Russia you facebook controled monkeys?
    If you don't like your country, you can always emigrate, you know there are many opportunities in America for "inteligent" people like you
    Go Putin go!

  43. Re:Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protes by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    Wow, a KGB agent learned to use a keyboard. That's 'intelligent' for you, dumb ass.

  44. No, that was the Democrats by Quila · · Score: 2

    The majority of the military still votes Republican, so the Democrats are the ones you will find challenging their absentee ballots. It was a big stink in Florida in 2000, where Bush won largely on those absentee ballots. The Democrats were trying to throw out as many of them as possible.

    If there was any effort to prevent your aunt from voting, it would have been by the Democrats in order to hinder that Republican voting bloc.

    1. Re:No, that was the Democrats by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Having many family members and friends in the military, I can say sir that you are full of shit. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.

    2. Re:No, that was the Democrats by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The majority of the military still votes Republican

      Nice try. Citation needed

    3. Re:No, that was the Democrats by Quila · · Score: 2

      Having married an Army brat, having dozens of friends and neighbors currently serving (most of whom have families), and having served for years myself, I can say YOU have no place to say I have no idea what I'm talking about.

  45. Carter Center Cleanup by ElBorba · · Score: 1
    --
    "The Borba"
  46. Raising it to an art form by Quila · · Score: 0

    Corrupt politics has been so heavily ingrained in two systems in our country's history, that there was absolutely no way to operate there without being directly involved in the corruption.

    This isn't just "corrupt things happen here or there," but an entire system based on entrenched corruption and patronage. The party bosses run the show regardless of what the people or individual elected politicians might want.

    Chicago is one, New York's Tammany Hall prior to the 1950s is the other. Both are Democrat. Although to his credit, the Democrat FDR helped kill Tammany Hall.

    As far as Obama's involvement, he was practically appointed to his first State Senate seat by the incumbent Alice Palmer, who endorsed him as her successor when she decided to run for Congress. In a classic twist, he had her disqualified after she decided to keep the seat, thus securing the nomination for himself. By the rules of Chicago politics, the election doesn't matter, only who gets the Democrat nomination, since that person is guaranteed to win by the machine. He is a very skillful within the framework of a corrupt political machine.

  47. And still some people want even bigger government by Quila · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The bigger the government, the more this will happen.

    Imagine a government that didn't have the power to create entire new industries, the power to pick winners and losers in the commercial sector, through regulation or legislation. The corporations that make money through this now wouldn't have anybody to lobby, they wouldn't have any influence.

  48. Re:Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protes by Cyberax · · Score: 1

    Wow. I totally agree with roman_mir. That's something unusual.

  49. Antartica by aepervius · · Score: 1

    Might be due to the lack of street though...

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
  50. YouTube shows a few interesting videos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are a few interesting videos on YouTube. Some show men with hundreds of prepared ballots going into the box at a time (by the same hand). Its easier if you tip the box over and push 30-40 in at a time. I worked with a lady who grew up in Soviet Union. She said that elections don't matter because either 1) one party is just as bad (corrupt/useless) as another, and 2) even if you bother to vote, the pre-arranged party will always come out on top. I was disappointed by her statements, but looking at what the Republicans did under G.W. Bush, and then what has happened under Obama, (1) looks approximately correct, leaving just (2). At the very least, the new guys have to be re-bribed by the corporations, and it will cost them money to get their way (and there might be an (albeit slim)) chance that some might not be bribe-able. In Russia, they are hoping for a change in (1), and at the very least, they can try for (2). It looks like Putin and United Russia might have tried to fix (1) ala George W. "hanging chads" Bush. Florida went Republican when 60% of the people voted Democrat. What up?

    1. Re:YouTube shows a few interesting videos by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      The way voting was arranged in USSR, it was, at least, more straightforward in being broken.

      First of all, while the ballot, theoretically, could have multiple candidates, they could only be nominated by organizations (like trade unions), and all organizations were government-controlled. Normally one would nominate some Party bureaucrat, others would nominate token "best workers" and then withdraw their nominations at the last moment, leaving the ballot with a single name on it.

      The second trick was the way voting itself was implemented. The instructions on the ballot were to strike out all names against the one guy you intended to vote for. Naturally, when there's only one name in the list, the choice is between not striking out anything (and voting for him), or striking him out (and voting against). Consequently, if you voted "for", all you needed to do was to take the ballot and immediately deposit it into the ballot box, whereas to vote "against" you needed to enter the voting booth where the pen would be found. So, in practice, the vote was open - if you entered the voting booth, you would be assumed to have voted against, and everyone would know it. This in itself was enough that most people wouldn't risk trying to vote against the Party-nominated candidate - there was no need even to crack down on those who voted against, since there were few enough of them that it didn't really matter - people "self-censored" themselves.

  51. Re:Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FYI, the 40,000 protesters is a sham. Someone has counted the heads, literally, in one rectangular area, then extrapolated it, and got the 20-25,000 number at the very maximum: http://dazor.livejournal.com/105114.html
    Someone else used a program to count the protesters: http://politrash-ru.livejournal.com/59110.html, got the same 25,000 number.

  52. Re:Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protes by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    Whatever, you shill, people were coming in and moving out and that 'program' uses faulty counting based on 'dark dots' or whatever. Definitely nobody was paid to go there unlike with these pro-putin bullshit.

  53. ID and food stamps, wrong again by Quila · · Score: 1

    Disabled veterans are eligible for a Department of Defense ID card, not just VA. It is considered a valid form of federal identification. Spouses and children of active duty personnel also receive a DoD ID card, valid as identification.

    As far as food stamps, remember that the lower ranks are equal to entry-level jobs in any other profession (actually a bit better). They don't pay much, so it's not a good idea to start a large family at those pay levels. A young E4 makes $2,000 a month, which is great for a single guy who also gets free food, housing, utilities and health care. Get a wife who doesn't work and have four kids, you just screwed yourself (although the military actually pays more for that).

    But still, there is no way that 40% need food stamps. Even then, any number is inflated because the USDA (the agency overseeing food stamps) doesn't count free government housing as income. Most military food stamp recipients live on base, getting this free housing, which technically brings their income into food stamp eligibility. If they lived off post and were receiving housing allowance (which is counted) equal to their rent and utilities, they would be making too much for food stamps.

  54. Positive moments by mike449 · · Score: 2

    1. Very detailed (down to individual voting stations) voting results were made available, although they were used to do similar analysis after the past elections.
    2. United Russia was barely able to get the majority in Duma, even with all the "irregularities"
    3. Internet was used to organize a mass rally (30-50k people in Moscow, thousands in other places). This one is a first. And these were not radicals that are happy to rally for whatever cause, but middle class - people that didn't go to the streets since 1991.

    This is the first time in a while I have some hope for the future of Russia.

  55. Re:Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protes by Frangible · · Score: 0

    The alternatives are COMMUNISM and ultranationalists! Those are far, far worse than Putin could ever be. Who cares about voter fraud or some rally on TV? Communism has killed millions upon millions of people, it is an evil that must be opposed, just like the Nazi party. Ultranationalists would drive Russia into war and nuclear armageddon.

    Your voting alternative to Putin isn't Obama. It's Stalin. It's a real-life Imran Zakhaev. What do you think your protests and standard of living will look like then? The alternatives to United Russia are so bad you should be absolutely terrified of them losing power. The downfall of communism and ultranationalism is something people have historically thought were worth fighting for. Worth dying for. And you would welcome them with open arms because... some crowd sizes weren't consistently reported on TV? Do you know what your TV would look like if the ultranationalists took over?

    "And remember... no Russian."

  56. Re:Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protes by roman_mir · · Score: 1

    I do have a comment on the choices, there are no good choices in Russia, but saying Putin is the only choice because he is the least worst, the is the tallest midget in the room (no disrespect to the small people), is also wrong. To wrongs don't make a right, and so Putin needs to be removed, by force if needed.

  57. Re:Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protes by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    And do you have to propose for Russia you facebook controled monkeys?

    For starters, an actual democracy where people get exactly what they vote for.

  58. Russia believes in the secret ballot by amorsen · · Score: 2

    In Russia the belief in the secret ballot is so strong that not even the voter gets to see the ballot before it goes in the box.

    --
    Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
  59. Re:Australia by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    We typically don't give a fuck as long as long as someone ensures we have a beer in one hand.

  60. Re:Yes, it's all fraud, including pro-Putin protes by Frangible · · Score: 1

    It is a insightful comment, and I agree with you. It sucks, and the Russian people should have better than the status quo. Putin won't get Russia to any sort of ideal. But communism and ultranationalists won't either. They're a step in the wrong direction, and are even worse. You know as well as I do you would see more abuses of power, and less chance of a strong middle class forming.

    Replacing Putin, violently or not, is only of benefit if the replacement is better than Putin, and United Russia. When they are worse in every way, it is pointless. Change isn't always a good thing, and killing is a two-way street.

    Also, in the US, petroleum and mining jobs are very lucrative, and petroleum and mining engineers are at the upper end of the middle class. Even with corruption present the Russian standard of living and average income has increased significantly under Putin. That's pretty good, considering Putin came into a worse mess than even Obama, and walks a very, very fine line. Putin also did clean up a great deal of corruption and oligarchs from Yeltsin's time; if trying to do so gets you assassinated in Russia, then Putin is a very lucky man to get his tea without polonium.

  61. Still not as good as Chicago! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've heard there's some precincts with 130% turnout!

  62. Benford's Law for vote analysis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I tried looking at Benford's Law for various parts of the data. It looks OK, i.e. the numbers weren't just raw fabrication:

    https://github.com/jywarren/benfords-law

    http://unterbahn.com/2011/12/what-are-kremlin-activists-using-to-analyze-vote-data/

  63. Benford by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I checked the results (the 65K at least) for the individual parties, and United Russia and the communists came out very odd to the others.

  64. FTFY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Publicly Available Russian Election Results Scream Fraud loud and clear.

  65. Re:And still some people want even bigger governme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They also wouldn't have any reigns. A multi-billion dollar corporation has very few limits not imposed by the government, and the fact that they can spend that money to influence the government into removing those limits isn't made better by removing the governing body and all its limits in the first place. Imagine instead a government where such lobbying via-pocketbook isn't permitted, and legal merits are argued on purely equal grounds. Since we're both in the business of imagining fantasy worlds that is, where everything would just work the way we imagine it would.

  66. and the only downside by fireylord · · Score: 1

    Is the high inflation making their money somewhat valueless, the lack of any international credibility in the business markets, other countries viewing them as a basketcase, and them ending up more isolated than they really want to be in the world in the current era. Their populace may think everything is ok, but even they must have noticed that imported goods are becoming expensive at a greater rate than home produce is.

  67. The sky is blue by Quila · · Score: 1

    Citation needed.

    Get real.

  68. Graphing the Fraud by Markster3000 · · Score: 0

    Someone's done the analysis on the raw data: http://uwdatasci.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/graphing-russias-election-fraud/ It shows some pretty awesome fraud going on.

  69. Re:Australia by VJmes · · Score: 1

    Well we were going to protest against the government, but people were either being poisoned by fauna or watching the cricket.