‘Bad to the Bone’: How Russia Purged Opposition Candidates From the Ballot

The song "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood & The Destroyers may have been the downfall of Iya Boronina, a politician from Russia's Udmurtia republic. In her campaign for the lower-house State Duma elections, she used the song in her social media videos, leading to her disqualification by the highest court in Udmurtia. The court ruled that Boronina had violated Russian intellectual property law by not obtaining a song license, which could only be purchased in U.S. dollars.

Boronina, who is affiliated with the left-wing conservative A Just Russia party, felt that her disqualification was a desperate attempt to remove her from the elections. She was one of many opposition candidates barred from the Sept. 18-20 elections, further weakening the opposition's efforts to challenge Kremlin-backed candidates.

Other parties affected include the liberal Yabloko party, which saw 29 of its candidates disqualified from the State Duma race, including Boronina. The Kremlin has been known to suppress protest voting and reduce turnout through various techniques, and Yabloko's disqualification has been seen as a setback for the party. Not only did Yabloko lose its nationwide party-list ballot, but its candidates also faced disqualification in regional elections across seven regions.

The most common grounds for disqualifying Yabloko members were old posts mentioning Navalny, ownership of shares on foreign stock exchanges, and errors in registration documents. The widespread disqualifications may be a result of regional political officials and civil servants demonstrating loyalty to the Kremlin. Communist Party candidates have also faced growing pressure this electoral cycle, with at least eight Communist Party candidates disqualified from the State Duma or regional legislatures.

This pressure reflects a modification of the deal offered to systemic opposition parties by the authorities.