How to Vote Safely

How to Vote Safely: A “First Aid Kit” from OVD-Info

Hello, dear friend!

Elections for State Duma representatives will take place 18–20 September 2026, and in some regions there will also be regional and municipal elections.

As with other public events in Russia, it is good to prepare ahead of time. We know that Russians are already encountering pressure at work, and security forces are paying visits to activists at home. Even just going to the polling station can raise concerns, since police will be on duty there.

In order to help you to feel calmer and to lower possible risks, this edition of “First Aid Kit” [Aptechka] has gathered some basic recommendations:

what to do if you are being forced to vote a certain way at work;
how to prepare to go to the polling station, including when voting from abroad;
how to prepare for interactions with police and possible detainment.

If you know other people who also need this information, read this “First Aid Kit” and tell them what you learned. You should only forward this email to people whom you completely trust: the Russian authorities consider OVD-Info an “extremist organization,” so it can be dangerous to publicly share our publications.

⛔ If you are being forced to vote at work

There can be attempts to force people who work in government agencies and institutions, and even in private companies, students, members of the military, and other people to take part in elections, register for remote e-voting, come to a polling station on a particular day or prove that they voted for a specific candidate by means of a photograph or screenshot.

All of these things are against the law and violate your electoral rights. Participation in elections is free and voluntary, and voting must be secret (articles 3 and 7 of the federal law “On particular guarantees to electoral rights and the right to take part in referenda for citizens of the Russian Federation”). The law directly prohibits forcing a person to participate or not participate in elections and interfering with their free volition.

Forcing someone to vote and violating the secrecy of voting is a serious crime. Depending on the circumstances these actions can fall under article 141 of the Russian Constitution.

If you encounter pressure, try to document it. This can be useful when reporting this kind of activity:

save your emails and screenshots;
write down the content of the conversation, the date and time;
when possible, make audio recordings.

If you are unable to fight back and your employer is demanding a photo of your ballot, you can use the “Galochka” bot. It can generate a photo with a vote for the candidate required by your employer.

❗If you attract attention from the police

In the lead-up to societally significant events and in their aftermath, the security forces sometimes conduct so-called “prophylactic measures”: they can come to your house, call you in for a prophylactic conversation, or issue a precaution.

A precaution is an official demand to not do what the authorities consider to be illegal. For instance, it can be issued in response to assumed participation in voting at noon on Sundays.

It is important to understand and remember the basic rules of behavior around these “prophylactics”:

you are not obliged to let security forces into your home — a prophylactic does not allow for forced entry;
identify the officers (ask for their names and official identification), and ask why they have come;
if a precaution is going to be issued to you, you can refuse to open the door, or ask to be summoned officially to the police station or sent an official summons by mail;
while talking with officers remember your right not to bear witness against yourself or your family— this is guaranteed by article 51 of the Constitution;
only answer the questions that are asked and do not provide personal information that could harm you;
do not insult the security forces and do not use force against them.

Remember that a precaution is a form of intimidation. The law meanwhile does not provide for individual liability for noncompliance with the precaution.

Preparing for the Polling Station

In advance of election day it’s worth taking care of some practical matters, regardless of whether you plan to vote in Russia or in another country.

✔️ Figure out where and how you will vote

Find out ahead of time which polling station you can vote at. If you need to switch polling stations or vote electronically, get your application in no later than 14 September.

If you are voting in Russia, you can find out where your polling station is on the Central Electoral Commission website.
If you want to vote somewhere other than your place of registration, apply at the State Services site. They also have information about different ways to apply.
If you plan to vote online, check to make sure remote voting is accessible in your region.
If you’re voting in another country, check the address and working hours of the polling station on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs site—you don’t have to apply to vote at polling stations abroad.

✔️ Prepare Your Phone

Police officers are present at polling stations. Their primary task is the protection of public order. But it is possible that if you are filming, they might notice you and try to take your phone away. For this reason it’s important to ensure its security ahead of time.

So think ahead about what device to bring along:

If you think you have a high risk of being detained, use a back-up phone and prepare it according to our manual. Turn off your main phone and leave it at home.
If you bring your main phone with you, update the operating system and all the apps. Protect your phone with a strong password (at least 8 characters — number, case-sensitive letters, and special symbols). It’s also good to turn on an augmented security mode: in iOS — Lockdown Mode, in Android — Advanced Android Protection. If the security forces are trying to take your phone, try to turn it off. These are general recommendations, not only for elections.
Don’t save any data in your phone’s memory that could create greater risks for you.

✔️ Remember the Basic Rules for Interacting with Police

Try to stay calm and avoid conflict
Do not insult police officers and do not resist them physically — even touching a uniform could turn into a criminal case.
Ask the police officer to identify themselves and show their badge. If possible, write down this information on a piece of paper. Ask politely why the officer is speaking with you.
If the officer tells you to come with them or tries to take you somewhere, ask directly: “Are you arresting me?”
If you are indeed being arrested and/or taken to a police vehicle or police station: call your people and/or your lawyer as soon as possible, tell them what happened and ask for help.
Read our manual about how to behave with police officers ahead of time.

✔️ When Voting Abroad

Outside of Russia you won’t be dealing with Russian police, but visiting the Russian consulate or embassy also requires preparation.

If you’re worried about your data, it’s better not to have your main phone on you. But whatever device you bring along, you should make sure to do the latest update (of its operating system and all apps), password-protect it (at least 8 characters — number, case-sensitive letters, and special symbols) and turn it off before entering the foreign mission.
Take along your international passport, since you might not be allowed to vote with your internal passport while abroad.
Remember that the conulate or embassy employees cannot detain or interrogate visitors, even if a criminal case has been opened against that person in the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, it might be dangerous for some people to visit a Russian foreign mission. For instance, if you have refugee status or have requested asylum, your host country could refuse you protection because of contact with the Russian government.
If you are afraid to visit a polling station abroad or cannot get there for other reasons, check to see if you have access to remote electronic voting and apply for it no later than 14 September. For online voting you will need a VPN with a Russian IP-address.
Remember that Russian foreign mission employees can be present in the polling station and can record video. If you are displaying symbols prohibited in Russia, these photographs could later end up with the Russian security forces.

While voting both in Russia and abroad, any number of situations can arise. We have prepared a master manual for preparing for elections. It contains practical advice for decreasing your risks and how to act if things go downhill. Read it ahead of time.

If you think you might be detained or arrested

On voting day, the security forces might alerted by publications online, public expressions of support for a candidate or party, picketing, arguments with election officials or attempts to oppose violations. But you can experience persecution due to just how you are dressed or if you happen to visit the polling station when a protest is underway.

If you believe that you might be detained or even arrested, you should prepare in advance:

read our “ideal detainee” manual;
understand what to do if you are charged with an arrestable offense;
find and save contact info for a lawyer;
if you don’t have a lawyer, and you or a person close to you is arrested, use our manuals and document templates;
ask a trusted person to save our contact info: Telegram bot @ovdinfobot and info@ovdinfo.org. We can’t find you a lawyer, but we can help consult about your situation and record the facts around the violations of your rights.

Take Care of Yourself

Being informed and prepared do not guarantee you won’t have problems with the system, but they do help you to feel calmer and to avoid making things worse if something goes wrong. We will be here for the duration of the voting period.

On 18 September, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Moscow Time, we will hold an election consultation day. Send any questions to our bot @OvdinfoBot, and an expert will provide detailed recommendations.
We’re also available every day to advise you on issues such as pressure on election observers and election commission members, coercion to vote, detentions and the issuance of summonses at polling stations, warnings issued to activists, and other matters.

OVD-Info continues its work despite the pressure. If you are outside Russia and do not plan to travel there, please support us by donating using foreign bank cards or secure cryptocurrency.

If you decide to donate but also plan to travel to Russia at some point, be sure to read about the risks and the instructions for interacting with border guards. Additionally, you can get advice on preparing for your trip via @ovdinfobot or at info@ovdinfo.org.

Source: OVD-Info newsletter, 12 September 2026. Translated by the Fabulous AM. I owe you one—or three. }}}}]} trr

Russia’s parliamentary election for the first time includes residents of regions that Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine after the start of its full-scale invasion more than 4 1/2 years ago, part of Kremlin efforts to cement its gains.

Officials in Kyiv vigorously denounced the action as illegal, and a human rights activist described residents there as being coerced to participate in the election.

While the vote across Russia started Friday and lasts until Sunday to help boost turnout, balloting actually has been underway in the annexed parts of Ukraine and some areas on the Russian side of the border since the end of last month. Officials cited security reasons for the extended period.

Russian authorities say the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia territories, often referred to by Moscow officials as the “new regions,” have over 3.5 million voters. They were annexed by Russia in September 2022, despite not fully being under Moscow’s control. The move has not been recognized internationally.

At one polling station in the Russian-held part of the Donetsk region, voters dropped their ballots in a box as an armed Russian soldier stood nearby and watched.

Putin stressed the importance of voting in the regions

In a speech Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized the importance of voting in those regions for the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. Residents there will be voting for the Duma “for the first time since their reunification with Russia.”

He noted that Russian soldiers involved in the fighting will also vote.

Voting is also taking place in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

The first wartime election to the State Duma is intended to secure the Kremlin’s political dominance and showcase public support for the war.

“Your choice and resolve will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our fighters, that we are a united people, bound by shared values, historical memory and love for the Motherland and that nobody can divide or intimidate us, undermine our statehood and political system,” Putin said.

Ukraine urges other countries not to recognize the vote

Authorities in Kyiv called the voting in those territories illegal and urged foreign governments and international organizations not to recognize the election. They warned Ukrainians that taking part in organizing the vote could carry criminal liability.

A coalition of nine Ukrainian human rights groups called on residents of the Russia-held territories to stay away from the polls.

“We urge residents of the temporarily occupied territories, above all, to protect their lives and health and to look after their own safety,” the coalition said in a statement. “Holding Russian elections in the temporarily occupied territories is an attempt to use the electoral process to legitimize the Russian occupation and the attempted annexation of Ukrainian territories.”

European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand said the voting in Russian-held regions represented “another blatant violation of international law. The European Union does not, and will never recognize either the holding of these so-called elections, sham elections, in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or their results.”

Activists describe coercion to vote

Violeta Artemchuk, coordinator of the Donbas SOS human rights group who was among those who signed the statement, said members of local election commissions were going house to house, escorted by Russian troops and security agents, to force people to vote.

Moscow-appointed authorities exert pressure on residents, threatening those who work in the public sector with dismissal if they fail to vote and making pensions and other social payments conditional on participating, Artemchuk said.

“For instance, if a person with a disability or a pensioner relies on social assistance and does not take part in the ‘voting,’ they could be added to a list of individuals deemed ‘disloyal’ to the so-called authorities and subsequently deprived of their benefits or humanitarian assistance,” she said.

Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst with the Kyiv-based Penta Center, emphasized that “elections held at gunpoint are a farce.”

“The very fact that voting takes place amid endless shelling and bombing reflects the Kremlin’s attitude toward the people and the electoral process in the occupied territories,” Fesenko told The Associated Press.

“It’s nothing short of a mockery. Any electoral procedures conducted by the Russian occupation authorities have nothing to do with democracy,” he said.

Source: “Russia holds parliamentary vote in areas it seized from Ukraine in the war,” KCRA 3 News (via AP), 19 September

Yabloko Is Not the Apple of the Kremlin’s Eye

Igor Stomakhin’s photo reportage of yesterday’s youth protest outside the Russian Supreme Court

Yabloko supporters outside the Russian Supreme Court, which decided whether the party should be barred from upcoming parliamentary elections (10 August 2026). Photo: Yevgeny Messman/TASS/Picture Alliance via DW

Following a nine-hour hearing, the Russian Supreme Court sided with the suit brought by the Motherland (Rodina) party and disqualified the Yabloko party’s federal list of candidates in the upcoming State Duma elections. Most of the plaintiffs’ claims concerned alleged copyright infringements in Yabloko’s campaign materials. In addition to these allegations against Yabloko, suspicions of “extremist” activity and foreign funding were also raised.

The case was heard by Judge Vyacheslav Kirillov, who has previously been involved in high-profile political trials. In particular, he ruled that the human rights organization Memorial was “extremist” and dismissed Alexei Navalny’s suit against the Federal Penitentiary Service and the wardens at the penal colony where he was imprisoned.

At least five hundred people gathered outside the Supreme Court building. They handed out apples [because yabloko means “apple” in Russian] and sang songs in support of the party. After the hearing concluded, security forces threatened the protesters with arrest and told the young people amongst them that they would be sent to a military enlistment office. Yabloko’s chair, Nikolai Rybakov, stated that the party had not broken the law and would appeal against the court’s decision within the five-day period stipulated by law.

“Moscow, 10 August 2026. Hundreds of people came to support the Yabloko party. Party chair Nikolai Rybakov had called on supporters to come to the Russian Supreme Court’s hearing of a lawsuit to disqualify the party from the elections. The suit was filed by the pro-Kremlin Motherland party. Alexei Zhuravlyov, Motherland party chair: ‘Freedom of speech is a word that would be good to shut up.’ The Yabloko party supports ending the war. Nikolai Rybakov: ‘We support the signing of a ceasefire agreement so that people stop getting killed.'”

Yabloko’s co-founder Grigory Yavlinsky wrote on Telegram that the authorities were afraid of the party’s campaign platform, which urged voters “to vote for peace, life, and liberty without fear,” because it is supported by an ever-growing number of people from across the political spectrum.

“Disqualifying a party with precisely this manifesto from the elections without any real grounds is a clear demonstration of the political system’s true nature,” he said.

DW has rounded up reactions to the court’s decision and asked experts what Yabloko’s disqualification means for the elections to the State Duma, which are slated for 18–20 September 2026.

Navalnaya: The Kremlin got scared and switched to ‘Plan B’

Motherland filed suit against Yabloko in the Supreme Court just as exiled Russian opposition politicians and cultural figures had publicly called on Russians to support Yabloko in the State Duma elections. Amongst those who had joined this appeal were Yulia Navalnaya, Lyubov Sobol, Ilya Yashin, writer Dmitry Bykov, and human rights activist Oleg Orlov.

After the court’s ruling was made public, Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Anti-Corruption Foundation founder Alexei Navalny and the organization’s current leader, said that the Russian authorities had originally planned to let Yabloko run in the elections but not let it garner more than two percent of the vote. [Parties need to clear a five-percent threshold to be seated in the Duma.] Later, however, “the Kremlin got scared” and “switched to Plan B,” disqualifying the party, she opined.

“They saw something happening that they didn’t want to see: people are beginning to unite. It wasn’t even a matter of support for Yabloko. The fact of the matter is that millions of Russians have a chance to say what they really think about Putin and about the war,” Navalnaya wrote on Telegram, adding that the Anti-Corruption Foundation had its own “Plan B.”

Exiled politician Andrei Pivovarov, coordinator of the Russian Antiwar Committee’s Consuls project, told DW that the opposition did not regard their support of Yabloko as a way of achieving instant political change or ending the war. Rather, they wanted to demonstrate the scope of antiwar sentiments in Russian society.

“There are a dozen parties on the ballot who support the war and one that supports peace. Even if Yabloko was seated in the Duma, the war wouldn’t end. But it would show that there are many antiwar Russians,” Pivovarov said. He argued that Yabloko had become the symbol of protest voting and the public’s antiwar sentiments wouldn’t vanish with the party’s disqualification from the elections.

Why did the authorities want to let Yabloko stand in the elections?

Political analyst Ivan Preobrazhensky, speaking to DW, suggested that Yabloko’s removal from the race could have been the result of “Kremlin bungling” or a power struggle amongst various influential factions. One of his theories is that a security forces bloc linked to the FSB may have backed Yabloko as a counterweight to New People, which is seen as the pet project of Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy head of the presidential administration. According to another theory, Kiriyenko himself was attempting once again to generate the appearance of political competition, but underestimated the strength of antiwar sentiment.

According to Preobrazhensky, the authorities have underestimated the number of antiwar Russians who are willing to rally behind any political force advocating an end to the war. He noted that even official opinion polls point to significant support for this. He believes that Yabloko’s eligibility to stand in the elections had been agreed in advance, but the rise in support for the party alarmed the authorities.

Political analyst Ilya Grashchenkov wrote on his Telegram channel that the Supreme Court’s ruling could lead to a rise in the poll ratings of the mainstream opposition parties. According to him, Yabloko was initially allowed to stand in the election to act as a spoiler for New People: the assumption was that the votes of antiwar voters would be split between the two parties and thus would not go to a single political force calling for an end to the war.

“We’re expecting VTsIOM’s poll results in a week’s time. I reckon part of the opposition will see a bump again,” he wrote.

Political analyst Mikhail Vinogradov also expressed surprise at Yabloko’s removal from the ballots. In his view, the party’s presence would have enabled the authorities to announce a modest outcome at the polls for it, present this as evidence of public support for the war, and provoke fresh disillusionment amongst antiwar Russians. Furthermore, the campaign would have helped to single out new politically engaged citizens. Even if Yabloko had secured a mandate in the State Duma, Vinogradov believes, this could have been used to demonstrate to voters the futility of the party’s presence in parliament.

“There are certainly advantages to Yabloko’s not being registered. But the authorities are keeping this under wraps for the time being,” he concluded.

What does Yabloko’s ouster from the elections mean?

Yabloko’s ouster will complicate matters for independent election observers since the party loses the right to dispatch its own representatives to polling places, Roman Udot, an expert on elections in Russia, argues. In the past, Yabloko eagerly provided passes to independent observers, although they can still get accreditation from other parties, including the Communists, New People, and even United Russia, Udot adds.

“Besides, it’s not a certainty that a schoolteacher who back in the day would help to rig elections because she was told that this was how her school would get moneys for repairs will behave the same way when her husband or son could be called up for combat. People’s interests are at stake here: it’s every man for himself, especially with all the talk about a mobilization,” says Udot.

Udot argues that the involvement in the campaign of New People, with its proposal to end the war in Ukraine, is significant, even if the party is controlled by the Kremlin: politicians are forced to respond to public sentiment.

“We may see a shift from hawks to lesser hawks, and then to doves,” says Udot.

Furthermore, in rigged elections, it is not only the official result that matters but also the public’s impression of the election campaign, he says.

“It all depends on the mood of the populace. If the people show that the wind is changing and that there is a certain desire, and people start casting their votes for a particular stance, then some politician will catch the wind and capitalize on it.”

Do the authorities have a grip on the situation?

Elections to the Duma are taking place amidst growing anxiety in Russian society, Margarita Zavadskaya, a senior researcher fellow at the Finnish Institute of Foreign Affairs, reminded DW in an interview. She pointed out that FOM (Public Opinion Foundation) reported that 57% of the Russians it polled in late July were anxious about the state of affairs in their country, the highest percentage recorded by the pollsters since the military mobilization of autumn 2022. Although FOM’s polls should be treated skeptically, an uptick like this at the height of summer testifies to the fact that “something is out of whack,” Zavadskaya argues.

Zavadskaya sees a connection between the public’s dour moods and the increasingly frequent Ukrainian drone attacks, the deaths of civilians and warehouse fires caused by these attacks, and rumors of a new military mobilization. According to her, the summer of 2026 has been the most anxious since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At the same time, the numbers of the most bellicose pro-war Russians have likely been dropping.

Anxiety is mounting in the Kremlin as well, since it is the authorities who have the most at stake in the election results, the political analyst argues.

“The ideal scenario for the Kremlin is boring elections with a sparse turnout in which nothing happens. But we can see that this scenario is now unlikely to materialize, because what’s happening on the eve of the elections doesn’t look normal, nor does it suggest that the authorities have a grip on the situation,” Zavadskaya told DW.

Source: Yevgeny Dyuk, “Yabloko’s ouster from the elections: reactions from politicians and experts,” Deutsche Welle Russian Service, 10 August 2026. Translated by the Russian Reader

Statement of (partial) interest: Ages ago, in another life, I took part in a protest rally led by Ilya Yashin, then head of Yabloko’s youth wing, on Nevsky Prospekt in Petersburg. Also, my boon companion is personallly well acquainted with current Yabloko party chair Nikolai Rybakov who, they fear, will soon be arrested and imprisoned for his temerity. ||||| trr