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First of all, most people don't know for sure that the elections are rigged.

As an election observer myself, only the third (out of three) election votings I directly watched turned out rigged. The elections of 2024 do indeed show signs of being the most rigged so far, but for a number of years the voting that were held in e.g. Moscow were reasonably fair. The Kremlin will change the rules every few years to make sure the odds are stacked in their favor, as well as curate the content of ballots, but they didn't always need to make the voting itself fake.

Secondly, people in many ways treat it as a public show (where they bring their children to) and as doing their civil duty, especially non-politicized majority which Putin has spent two decades creating. As I've noticed elsewhere, it's viewed as embarrassing to exhibit any political views in Russia. People in public roles have to do this as a part of their job. Otherwise, having loud pro-government or opposition views is seen as a slight personality defect.

Of course, Putin also has a core group of voters who will make effort to show up and vote no matter what. People retired due to old age also show up to the voting stations reliably - they watch TV which encourages them to, and it's not like they have too many things going on with them, though this may be changing in the future.

First of all, most people don't know for sure that the elections are rigged.

As an election observer myself, only one out of the three election votings I directly watched turned out rigged. The elections of 2024 do indeed show signs of being the most rigged so far, but for a number of years the voting that were held in e.g. Moscow were reasonably fair. The Kremlin will change the rules every few years to make sure the odds are stacked in their favor, as well as curate the content of ballots, but they didn't always need to make the voting itself fake.

Secondly, people in many ways treat it as a public show (where they bring their children to) and as doing their civil duty, especially non-politicized majority which Putin has spent two decades creating. As I've noticed elsewhere, it's viewed as embarrassing to exhibit any political views in Russia. People in public roles have to do this as a part of their job. Otherwise, having loud pro-government or opposition views is seen as a slight personality defect.

Of course, Putin also has a core group of voters who will make effort to show up and vote no matter what. People retired due to old age also show up to the voting stations reliably - they watch TV which encourages them to, and it's not like they have too many things going on with them, though this may be changing in the future.

First of all, most people don't know for sure that the elections are rigged.

As an election observer myself, only third elections I directly watched turned out rigged. The elections of 2024 do indeed show signs of being the most rigged so far, but for a number of years the voting that were held in e.g. Moscow were reasonably fair. The Kremlin will change the rules every few years to make sure the odds are stacked in their favor, as well as curate the content of ballots, but they didn't always need to make the voting itself fake.

Secondly, people in many ways treat it as a public show (where they bring their children to) and as doing their civil duty, especially non-politicized majority which Putin has spent two decades creating. As I've noticed elsewhere, it's viewed as embarrassing to exhibit any political views in Russia. People in public roles have to do this as a part of their job. Otherwise, having loud pro-government or opposition views is seen as a slight personality defect.

Of course, Putin also has a core group of voters who will make effort to show up and vote no matter what. People retired due to old age also show up to the voting stations reliably - they watch TV which encourages them to, and it's not like they have too many things going on with them, though this may be changing in the future.

First of all, most people don't know for sure that the elections are rigged.

As an election observer myself, only the third (out of three) election votings I directly watched turned out rigged. The elections of 2024 do indeed show signs of being the most rigged so far, but for a number of years the voting that were held in e.g. Moscow were reasonably fair. The Kremlin will change the rules every few years to make sure the odds are stacked in their favor, as well as curate the content of ballots, but they didn't always need to make the voting itself fake.

Secondly, people in many ways treat it as a public show (where they bring their children to) and as doing their civil duty, especially non-politicized majority which Putin has spent two decades creating. As I've noticed elsewhere, it's viewed as embarrassing to exhibit any political views in Russia. People in public roles have to do this as a part of their job. Otherwise, having loud pro-government or opposition views is seen as a slight personality defect.

Of course, Putin also has a core group of voters who will make effort to show up and vote no matter what. People retired due to old age also show up to the voting stations reliably - they watch TV which encourages them to, and it's not like they have too many things going on with them, though this may be changing in the future.

First of all, most people don't know for sure that the elections are rigged.

As an election observer myself, only third elections I directly watched turned out rigged. The elections of 2024 do indeed show signs of being the most rigged so far, but for a number of years the voting that were held in e.g. Moscow were reasonably fair. The Kremlin will change the rules every few years to make sure the odds are stacked in their favor, as well as curate the content of ballots, but they didn't always need to make the voting itself fake.

Secondly, people in many ways treat it as a public show (where they bring their children to) and as going their civil duty, especially non-politicized majority which Putin has spent two decades creating. As I've noticed elsewhere, it's viewed as embarrassing to exhibit any political views in Russia. People in public roles have to do this as a part of their job. Otherwise, having loud pro-government or opposition views is seen as a slight personality defect.

Of course, Putin also has a core group of voters who will make effort to show up and vote no matter what. People retired due to old age also show up to the voting stations reliably - they watch TV which encourages them to, and it's not like they have too many things going on with them, though this may be changing in the future.

First of all, most people don't know for sure that the elections are rigged.

As an election observer myself, only third elections I directly watched turned out rigged. The elections of 2024 do indeed show signs of being the most rigged so far, but for a number of years the voting that were held in e.g. Moscow were reasonably fair. The Kremlin will change the rules every few years to make sure the odds are stacked in their favor, as well as curate the content of ballots, but they didn't always need to make the voting itself fake.

Secondly, people in many ways treat it as a public show (where they bring their children to) and as doing their civil duty, especially non-politicized majority which Putin has spent two decades creating. As I've noticed elsewhere, it's viewed as embarrassing to exhibit any political views in Russia. People in public roles have to do this as a part of their job. Otherwise, having loud pro-government or opposition views is seen as a slight personality defect.

Of course, Putin also has a core group of voters who will make effort to show up and vote no matter what. People retired due to old age also show up to the voting stations reliably - they watch TV which encourages them to, and it's not like they have too many things going on with them, though this may be changing in the future.