The Russians go to the polls this Sunday for the last day of the legislative elections, a ballot in which the movement of the opponent Alexeï Navalny was dismissed.

Under pressure from the authorities, his voting instructions were removed by digital giants.

After months of repression that have severely weakened critics of President Vladimir Putin, the election is expected to be won by the ruling United Russia party, despite its unpopularity.

Google and Apple give in

Anti-corruption activist and bête noire of the Kremlin, Alexeï Navalny, 45, was jailed in January for a fraud case he considers political.

Its organizations were banned for "extremism" before the elections and many of its cadres had to flee the country.

"These are not really elections, people have almost no choice," lamented Vladimir Zakharov, a 43-year-old businessman who came to vote on Saturday in Saint Petersburg. 

Ahead of the election, the Russian authorities also exerted unprecedented pressure against digital companies broadcasting opposition content.

They bent Google and Apple, who agreed to remove some of this content for fear of arrests of their employees in Russia, according to close sources.

The vote, held over three days, from Friday to Sunday, aims to renew the 450 terms of deputies of the Duma, the lower house of Parliament currently dominated by United Russia. Local and regional elections also take place. Some 108 million Russians are being called to the polls until 8 p.m. local time on Sunday, with first estimates expected by late evening.

At 7 am GMT on Sunday, participation in the legislative elections reached 35.69% according to the Electoral Commission.

According to a list from the specialized NGO Golos, more than 3,500 possible irregularities have been reported since the start of the vote, including ballot stuffing and pressure to vote.

Kirill Sergeiénko, a 43-year-old voter, said he came to vote specially on Sunday in St. Petersburg, hoping that there would be “less possibility of fraud” on the last day of the polls.

"Your voice matters"

Almost no anti-Putin candidate having been allowed to run for the legislative elections, Alexeï Navalny's supporters had set up a so-called “smart vote” strategy intended to support the candidate - often Communist - best placed to hinder the one. power. The opponent, detained in a penal colony a hundred kilometers from the Russian capital, once again urged his supporters to vote by following his instructions. “Today your voice really matters,” he wrote in a social media post on Sunday. “Vote and persuade others to vote. Please don't be lazy. "

In the past, this tactic had met with some success, especially in Moscow, and the authorities this time set about blocking all access to these instructions, putting the internet giants under pressure.

Google and Apple thus agreed on Friday to remove the mobile application of Alexeï Navalny's “smart vote” from their store.

Its supporters recognized a "huge victory" for the Kremlin and accused the two American firms of "giving in to blackmail".

The opposition banned from the poll

Google has also suspended access to other content containing these electoral instructions: two videos published on YouTube - which Google owns - and two lists published on Google Docs, its word processing service. Alexei Navalny's team responded by posting a similar new video on YouTube and copies of the lists on Google Docs. On Twitter, she also gives instructions on how to download a virtual private network (VPN) to avoid blocks.

The Telegram messaging system, very popular in Russia, has also removed the voting instructions from its platform.

Most of the opposition having been banned from the ballot, United Russia should nevertheless win, for lack of real competition and despite a popularity rating of less than 30%, according to the state polling center VTsIOM.

The other parties represented in the Duma - communists, nationalists and centrists - are on the whole in line with President Putin, who remains popular.

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