ABSTRACT
Russian voters, however, have two electoral instruments through which they can register a protest: either they can abstain from voting altogether, or else they can actually vote against all candidates. The provision to vote ‘against all’ was retained in 1993 when the fundamentals of the post-Soviet electoral system were established. Since 1997, however, the status of this option has been more firmly enshrined in electoral legislation, effectively giving it parity with the voting totals for real candidates. Theoretical effects of the vote ‘against all’ have been examined elsewhere, and it is not necessary to recount them all. Evidence of voter alienation in Russia through falling turnout figures at the federal level is somewhat tenuous. The provinces, which form the majority of the Russian regions, are distributed throughout, with a slight majority in the upper half of the distribution.
