Issue and Opponent: Russian politics had long been dominated by the United Russia party. The United Russia Party is a centrist party created by the elite to support their favored candidate, Vladimir Putin. On December 4th, 2011, elections for the national legislative body were held, and the United Russia party coincidentally won 52.88% of the seats. There had been multiple reports citing election fraud, however. In one instance, poll watchers claimed that election officials had stuffed ballot boxes or had miscounted votes purposefully.
Dilemma Action: Fed up with electoral fraud, several opposition groups merged to protest against the results of the election. One of the largest initial protests was called “Saturday at Bolontnaya Square”, for which the organizers had secured a 30,000-person protest permit. The mass protest called for the freedom of political prisoners, the annulment of the election results, and new democratic and open elections. During the protest, protestors used white ribbons, and the color white in general, to unite against electoral fraud. The color white came to symbolize truth, sincerity, and solidarity for the protesters. Nearly 50,000 people attended the protest in Moscow, one of the largest protests since the fall of the USSR. Supporters of the campaign used white construction tape, printed paper, grocery bags, and even white laces to show their support for the protests.
Outcomes: Though protesters remained peaceful, the police arrested over a thousand protesters for allegedly participating in disorderly conduct. The Russian government also cut off phone and internet services at Bolontnaya Square during the protest. Police and riot troops were deployed in Moscow ahead of the protest. The election results were not annulled and none of the campaign’s demands were met. In the months following, the government enacted laws that limited protests and highly penalized unauthorized actions or protests.