Russia's state broadcaster RT going all-out to boost legitimacy of rigged Duma election

By Precious Chatterje-Doody, Lecturer in Politics and International Studies, The Open University
Ilya Yablokov, Lecturer in Journalism and Digital Media, Department of Journalism Studies, University of Sheffield

Russia goes to the polls on September 19 to elect a new Duma – the country’s legislature. Russian elections are not known for their unpredictability – United Russia, the party linked to the president, Vladimir Putin, tends to come away with more than half of the vote. The remainder is split between well-established “opposition” parties including the Communist Party and the (populist right-wing, don’t be fooled by the name) Liberal Democratic Party.

Underhand administrative…

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