Russians will be voting in parliamentary elections this Sunday. Is anyone's spouse / fiancé(é) going to vote?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071127/ap_on_...ssia_election_1
Not like it is going to matter anyway.

Here are the locations:
http://www.consulrussia.org/Vybory2007/INFO%2002122007.htm

My wife thinks it's a shame and she isn't voting. Actually Czar Putin's BS is making her want the US citizenship even more.

It isn't worth getting on an airplane for a vote that won't matter anyway.

The way the rules are set now, Putin's United Russia should end up with 100% of the parliamentary seats. The constitution will require him to add at least a few token seats from other parties.

I honestly don't understand the crackdown on every minority, since the electoral rules already guarantee United Russia winning.

I wish I could vote, but my remote propiska makes it next to impossible. It's incredibly sad and disappointing to see many people for whom to vote means to make a 10-minute trip to the neighboring school, forego their constitutional rights and thus contribute to the undermining of democracy in Russia. They are myopic indeed if they think excercising their will is useless or shameful.

I wish I could vote but I'm not a russian and not in russia
I don't see Putin as being that bad though! But it's my humble opinion

They sound like American voters!

I am voting if I get time off work - I work Sundays. My parents are here, and they will also vote at the Consulate.

I don't like United Russia and Putin, but I don't think they are as evil as they're portrayed to be.

I won't be voting for United Russia, I will vote for another party that never wins I also don't think voting is useless and shameful.

Single party democracy has never worked well, anywhere.

At least your job isn't dependent on your vote as is the case in the news article I posted. Although I am not a Russian citizen, my favorite selection on the Russian ballot is the "against all" box
But it has been removed and you can see why:
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/09-06-.../81796-voting-0

"Against all" used to be my favorite too. I never like any candidates, and I always have a hard time figuring out what these parties in Russia stand for. Lately it's been like "we're for Putin" of "we're against Putin". Hardly a platform, imho

I'll still vote if they let me miss a few hours at work.

For what, so she can participate in a more accurate system of counting and recounting and qualifying and disqualifying and...... anyway, having an electoral college negates the need for a popular vote in the first place.

Elections are a scam whether in Russia or the U.S. and at least in Russia, Putin is pretty obvious about what he's doing.

She's happens to be there, but she is also a U.S. citizen, so I don't know how the U.S. would like it if it found out its naturalized citizen is voting outside the U.S. in a foreign election even though that country considers her eligible to vote. Probably not worth getting involved anyway.

The US doesn't care if you vote in other countries.

Holding elected office would be an issue, that's about it.

She technically could vote, and from the news story you posted, she might be pressured to do so also, but I think it could be considered by the U.S. to be a potentially expatriating act under INA 349(a)(2): "taking an oath, affirmation or other formal declaration to a foreign state or its political subdivisions."

Loss of U.S. nationality was almost immediate consequences of foreign military service, voting in foreign elections, and the other acts listed in Section 349(a) until 1967 when the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Afroyim v. Rusk , 387 U.S. 253. In that decision, the court declared unconstitutional the provisions of Section 349(a) which provided for loss of nationality by voting in a foreign election. In so doing, the Supreme Court indicated foreign election. In so doing, the Supreme Court indicated that a U.S. citizen "has a constitutional right to remain a citizen... unless he voluntarily relinquishes that citizenship."

So, while voting in a foreign election is no longer an automatic expatriating act, it probably is now considered a potentially expatriating act. That means whenever she goes to renew or replace her passport, she will have to disclose this foreign voting and include in her explanation that she did so without the intention to relinquish.

Given these facts, I really don't think it is worth it for her to get involved in this election unless they force her to vote (and in that cause, even the foreign voting itself could be considered involuntary).

What are you people talking about, nobody is forced to vote. Except, perhaps, the military who are led to vote for Putin in files, at the command of their officers. For all the rest of the citizens, voting is voluntary.

The removal of "against all" option is just that. Those who came to vote have to vote for somebody. If they chose not to vote, they stay at home.

Which is the U.S. equivalent.

yes, you are right, nobody is forced to vote in Russia -- unless of course you hate being unemployed.

Please quote the law, or regulation, or incident that supports your statement.

Half of my friends have not voted in the previous elections and they still hold their jobs.

At my SO's workplace, they are expected to share the same political views as the management. There is no written rule or law that says they are required to, but people have a strange habit of being fired for incompetence when they have opposing views. Management actively engage their employees in political discussions, and it's best for those employees to not only nod and agree, but to enthusiastically participate in the conversation.

How is her management able to control whether she's gone to vote or not?

Anyway, it's just a particular case of inappropriate behavior, but not a general rule as it was stated in kud's post.

Yes, it happens at some work places (schools are a good example) - they expect you to show up and even to vote a certain way, but I wouldn't generalize like you do.

Did you read the article? Even BBC reported on it. Friends told us about it. I would say it is pretty wide spread.

My friends tell me differently. I mean, only two of them are voting, the rest aren't.

Here in the U.S. there's no need to force people to vote - they can just count the votes the way they please, and there you go.

Read the article below:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071127/ap_on_...ssia_election_1
If you disagree with the article (it was biased, etc.) I can understand your point of view.

They like to demonize our country, that's for sure. Not that it's entirely a lie and nothing in the article is true, but the extent of what's happening is exaggerated, and usually, the tendency in the Western media is to only write about the bad stuff that's going on in Russia.

But there is a bunch of stupid crap happening there in regards to the upcoming election - no doubt about it.

The article is very biased and to a large extent incorrect. Ryzhkov's party SPS was never barred; his candidacy was however removed from the top three candidates for President, at the Kremlin's insistense. Seeing such factual mistakes I doubt the accuracy of other facts mentioned.

I agree there is much pressure to ensure a decent turnout. But there is NO WAY any employer is able to check whether his employee has used her absentee ballot (unless they are all led to vote in files, like those soldiers), - or for which party that employee voted.

So true. We're so concerned about spreading democracy abroad, we foget that it's eroding right here in our front yard.

Not with things like the Patriot Act to protect us!

ROFLMAO