Russia Offers Incentives to Vote

Reports have emerged of election officials in Russia offering a variety of free gifts and prizes to encourage Russians to vote in the country’s presidential election.

Among the freebies being offered include bread rolls, porridge and concert tickets. Some sites have reportedly advertised raffles, where voters who participate in the contests can win prizes from firewood to new cars and iPhones.

Russia’s three-day presidential election began on Friday, and some Western analysts have said the Kremlin is concerned about low voter turnout. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to win by a large margin in what is considered by many to be a rigged election, his office is reportedly concerned that a smaller-than-expected turnout could lend credence to the argument that the contest is illegitimate.

Earlier this month, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote that there is already “a widespread sentiment in Russia that the election has already been decided and that Russians have generally accepted that Putin has already won again.” The U.S.-based think tank added in its report that the primary reason the Kremlin has continued efforts to deliver a high voter turnout is “to present the guise of legitimacy and widespread popular support” among Putin’s electorate.

According to independent Russian media outlet Meduza, the Kremlin intends to hit a 70 percent to 80 percent voter turnout mark. In order to reach this target, the Kremlin is reportedly looking to mobilize citizens with ties to the government, including public sector employees and those who work for state corporations, as well as their relatives and friends.

The Moscow Times on Thursday detailed how Russia is attempting to lure citizens to the polling stations with prizes like bags of sugar and concert tickets. In Omsk, a city in Siberia, some young voters will be offered free rides on the local Ferris wheel.

In the Altai region, voters can try to win sanctioned goods such as iPhone 15s or Dyson Airwraps, according to the Times. The town of Strezhivoy is offering bread rolls and porridge, while the Sverdlovsk region is holding a trivia quiz with prizes that include cars and motorcycles.

Francis Scarr, BBC journalist who specializes in analyzing Russian media, posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, from a district in Siberia advertising raffles for bags of sugar and “vans of firewood.”

Putin has served as Russia’s president from 2000 to 2008 and since 2012, with a stint as prime minister in between being the executive head of state. Opinion polls show Putin remains popular among the Russian public, even if support for his war in Ukraine has reportedly waned.

Russia’s central election commission did report a high online voter turnout on Friday that resulted in a digital voting system to malfunction. According to a report from German news outlet DPA, some 500,000 Moscow residents cast their ballots over the internet in the morning on the first day of voting.

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR) told The Kyiv Independent that its officials hacked into one of Russia’s online voting systems and disrupted the election process on Friday. A spokesperson with the agency added: “There are no elections or democracy there anyway.”

Disruptions were also reported at a number of physical polling locations after some residents appeared to protest Russia’s election. Some ballots were destroyed after demonstrators poured dark-colored dye into ballot boxes in several cities, including at locations in Moscow and Crimea. Another Russian media outlet reported that a woman was detained in Saint Petersburg for throwing a Molotov cocktail at a polling site.

According to Russian news site Fontanka, the woman accused of throwing the explosive told police that she was ordered to carry out arson by a “Ukrainian Telegram channel” in exchange for payment. Newsweek reached out to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry for comment via email late Friday night.