Amid shrinking turnout, establishment wins elections in Russian North

The 10th September was election day in 82 of Russia’s 85 federal subjects. In the Russian North, people were to elect a string of new representatives for regional and municipal legislative bodies.

But few did. The northerners stayed at home. Turnout was lower than ever.

In Karelia, where there was governor’s elections, turnout was only 28 percent. The vote was comfortably won by Acting Governor and United Russia candidate Artur Parfenchikov with 61,34 percent of the votes, data from the Federal Election Commission shows. Infographics from 7x7-journal visualizes Parfenchikov’s safe win ahead of A Just Russia candidate Irina Petelyaeva (18,05%), Communist Party representative Yevgeny Ulyanov (12,13%) and Yevgeny Besedny from the Liberal Democratic Party (5,68%).

Liberal party Yabloko, which normally is a strong opposition group in the region, did not have a candidate in the vote.

In Murmansk region, only 11,36 percent of the electorate cast their vote in the municipal elections, b-port.com reports. Some places did show positive trends, however, among them the settlement of Teriberka where turnout was 43,19 percent and closed military town of Vidyaevo where 40,17 cast their votes.

In the border town of Nikel, United Russia candidates Galina Zaitseva won the vacant seat in the local legislative assembly with a local turnout of 19,89 percent, Zapolyarny Vertikal informs.

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Among the winners of a seat in the local assembly in Teriberka, Murmansk region, is Valery Yarantsev, who ran as an independent candidate, Bloger51 reports. In neighboring Norway, Yarantsev is well known as the «pirat captain» who in 2005 triggered a diplomatic crisis in relations between the countries as he ran away from the Norwegian coast guard with two Norwegian inspectors on board.

In the Komi Republic, voter turnout reached a new historic low with less than 11 percent, 7x7-journal reports.

Also in Arkhangelsk, people stayed at home on the election day. According to newspaper Pravda Severa, overall voter turnout in the ten municipal elections in the region was only about 17 percent.