The fairness of the 2008 Russian presidential election is disputed, with election monitoring groups giving conflicting reports. Most official reports accept that not all candidates had equal media coverage and that some election monitoring groups had restricted access to perform their role. Monitoring groups found a number of other irregularities, but made no official reports of fraud or ballot stuffing.
Opinions of observers and Election officials
GOLOS Association
Representatives from the GOLOS monitoring group stated that "the Election Day was held in a relatively quiet atmosphere in contrast to the State Duma election day. Such large-scale violations observed then as campaigning next to polling stations, transporting of voters, intimidation of voters and others were practically non-existent." They did however report irregularities in the election.STATEMENT # 3 OF GOLOS ASSOCIATION ON THE RESULTS OF SHORT-TERM MONITORING OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ON MARCH 2, 2008 , The GOLOS Association, Moscow, March 3, 2008 Some of the more serious irregularities reported were: Incomplete combined protocols, as in 50% of polling stations in Ufa, Kostroma and Kursk Some voters being allowed keep their absentee ballots (e.g. at 41% of polling stations in V. Novgorod and at about 5% of polling stations in Tomsk, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and Ufa) Massive voting with absentee ballots was reported from almost 10% of polling stations in the Republic of Mariy-El, at 7% of polling stations in Tatarstan, at 9% of polling stations in Irkutsk and at 4.5% of polling stations in Yekaterinburg Various government officials other than members of electoral commissions were reported at polling stations especially in Omsk (30.6% of polling stations), but in other regions as well (at 5-6% of polling stations in Barnaul, Adygea, Yekaterinburg, Yoshkar-Ola, Perm and Pskov)
Commonwealth of Independent States observer mission
The Commonwealth of Independent States observer mission said the election was free and democratic. "The CIS observer mission states that the election is a major factor in the further democratization of public life in the Russian Federation, and recognizes it as free, open and transparent," said Nauryz Aidarov, head of the CIS mission.
Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe observer delegation was the only Western organization to monitor the election, with other Western organizations citing alleged restrictions imposed by Russia making it "impossible for them to capture an accurate picture of campaigning."
The PACE delegation concluded that no election fraud or major violations took place and that its outcome broadly reflected the will of the people, but said that not all candidates had equal media coverage. Andreas Gross, the head of the 22-member observation mission, denounced the process, saying "It is still not free and still not fair."
The PACE observing group stated that the result of the election was a "reflection of the will of an electorate whose democratic potential was, unfortunately, not tapped." They said "In the elections, which had more the character of a plebiscite on the last eight years in this country, the people of Russia voted for the stability and continuity associated with the incumbent President and the candidate promoted by him. The President-elect will have a solid mandate given to him by the majority of Russians."Russia election not free or fair, say observers by Luke Harding, The Guardian, March 3, 2008Russian Presidential election: for an election to be good it takes a good process, not just a good election day , Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, March 3, 2008 Chairman Andreas Gross said there had been "uneven access" to the media during the campaign, a claim made by two of the candidates, who complained of overwhelming bias towards Medvedev by state television. He also "lamented" the absence of independent candidates in the poll, such as Mikhail Kasyanov, who he said were "deliberately excluded" from the race.
The group had concerns over candidate registration and concluded that unfair access to media put into question the overall fairness of the vote. According to the group, the election "repeated most of the flaws revealed during the Duma elections of December 2007." A pre-election PACE mission found one month earlier that voters had limited choice. The mission pointed to "insurmountable difficulties" facing candidates willing to register. According to the mission, "an election where there is not a level playing field for all contestants can hardly be considered as fair."PACE pre-election delegation concerned by limited choice in Russian Presidential election , PACE, Moscow, February 8, 2008
A "post-electoral" delegation from PACE, following a visit which came after widespread demonstrations in Moscow and elsewhere, called for political change in Russia, adding that it should be "substantial and sustainable", and should not be "a survival mechanism".PACE post-election delegation urges Russia’s political parties to embrace change, PACE, Moscow, January 21, 2012
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe boycotted the election because of what it called "severe restrictions" on its observers by the Russian government.Intervention by the Delegation of Canada on ODIHR Election Observation Mission to Russia's Presidential Election Retrieved on March 14, 2008 Vote rig claim after Putin ally landslide CNN Retrieved on March 14, 2008 After weeks of negotiations, Russia agreed to increase the observer numbers for the ODIHR mission and extend the time frame for its visit, but the ODIHR claimed that the offer still didn't meet their requirements, insisting that it needed to send at least 50 of its observers to Russia on February 15, five days before the date proposed by Moscow, in order effectively monitor the election campaign. Russia responded by insisting that it was complying fully with its international obligations and that its invitation for 400 monitors meets international standards. It accused the OSCE of attempting to politicize the dispute and that it suspected ODIHR's intention from the outset was to boycott the election, saying that the ODIHR had displayed "contempt for basic ethical norms ... which, it seems, indicates that ODIHR from the start was not even trying to agree on mutually acceptable conditions for monitoring."Election watchdog scraps plans to monitor Russian vote National Post Retrieved on March 19, 2008
Members of European Union Germany and France made clear the vote did not meet their criteria for a democratic election, but alongside Britain and the European Union they congratulated Medvedev on a victory they said appeared to reflect the will of the Russian people.Criticism and protests mar Medvedev's election win Reuters Retrieved on March 14, 2008
Russian reaction Pro-Putin youth organization Nashi decided to sue the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for libel "hurting reputation of the Russian Federation". They filed lawsuits in the courts of Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. So far only the Leninsky Raion Court of Sevastopol, Ukraine decided that PACE and OCSE are guilty in libel and fined them ₴30 million (approximately US$6 Million). Nashi threatened to demand confiscation of European property in the Post-Soviet states if the decision of the Ukrainian court will be ignored."НАШ" ответ Гроссу , Максим Новиков, Леонид Раевский, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March 13, 2008 According to Maksim Novikov and Leonid Rayevsky of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, PACE removed their December 3, 2007 statement on Russian Elections following the court decision. PACE criticized organizers of the earlier State Duma elections in its December 3, 2007 statement.Russian Duma elections ‘not held on a level playing field’, say parliamentary observers , PACE press-release, December 3, 2007
Election officials The head of Russian Central Elections Commission (CEC) Vladimir Churov said that no serious violations occurred in the presidential election campaign - "There were no serious violations in the canvassing campaign, and each candidate had broad possibilities to present his program and views". He also said that media coverage for the presidential election had been "fair but not equal".Russia official admits media bias BBC Retrieved on March 14, 2008
Prior to the election, head of the International Affairs Committee at the State Duma, Konstantin Kosachyov, criticized Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe chairman Andreas Gross for making statements that could affect voter behavior before the election results are known, calling his statements "an attempt to exert pressure on our country and our people through the international monitoring procedure".
Opinion of candidates Dmitry Medvedev The winner of the elections, Dmitry Medvedev said: "The unprecedented level of the electoral activity is evidence that our citizens care about our country's future. Thank them very much for their participation in the electoral campaign: elections of the President of Russia." Speech on March 3, 2008 in Moscow
Gennady Zyuganov Presidential candidate Gennady Zyuganov, who gathered 17.7% of the vote, says that "falsification of the results to achieve the required percentage reached fantastic proportions ... According to the Communist Party (CPRF) observers, Zyuganov got 23%-24% of the vote in the Russian Far East, more than 30% in Bryansk Oblast, etc. When the electoral offices got the command to achieve Medvedev's results slightly less than Putin's on the 2004 election a Bacchanalia began. In twenty regions the electronic equipment was switched off and there were attempts to rewrite the protocols. It didn't go smoothly everywhere but in many places it worked. The president of Bashkortostan lowered Zyuganov's vote to below 7% while on all the districts there CPRF observers were present the result was 23%-24%. A similar pattern was observed in Tatarstan, Ingushetia, Mordovia. The special case was Chechnya. In Oryol Oblast (the birthplace of Zyuganov) up to 30% of Zyuganov's ballots were intentionally made invalid and thrown to the rubbish bin. Electoral observers from CPRF there were asked to leave the voting place for 5-10 minutes for the "special actions" with the ballots, otherwise the results would not be accepted by the electoral commission"
Vladimir Zhirinovsky Presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky who got 9.3% of the vote emphasized that the elections were the "historical moment when the first time in the history of Russia the power goes from one human to another according to the Constitution, the laws on the legislative and presidential elections. We have waited this for one hundred years. For one hundred years our country did not see a peaceful transfer of powers!"В.В. Жириновский об итогах выборов Президента России.
Mikhail Kasyanov Dismissed presidential candidate Mikhail Kasyanov stated on the election day: "I do not care what the numbers: 60, 70 or 120 percent will be officially announced. Today is the day of completion for the KGB operation on illegitimate transfer of power".Kasyanov on the results of Presidential elections Kasyanov.ru web site "Today are funerals of democracy in Russia, but it died earlier: between December and January when the Government violated the fundamental constitutional right of citizens: the right for a free election, free choice and the possibility to elect their own candidates rather than the ones enforced from above."Экс-премьер Касьянов: "Сегодня умерла демократия, конституцию предали" Interview to La Repubblica