Summary:

Annual Election Day. On September 8th, Russia held its annual single day of voting across the country. The pre-election demonstrations in Moscow were widely reported internationally as are the ongoing court proceedings involving many of those arrested. A widely held view is that the elections either signal a major shift in public support for the President and his government or even the start of a new more serious movement for political change. In reality, excepting the mixed picture from Moscow, in the country as a whole the elections turned out relatively well for the regime.