Navalny ally Yulia Navalnaya and exile Maxim Katz launch joint anti-United Russia voting plan

Yulia Navalnaya and Maxim Katz issued a coordinated voting guide for Russia’s State Duma elections slated for September 18-20, urging citizens to cast protest votes for any party other than United Russia on the party-list ballot. They also recommend supporting the strongest opposition candidate in each single-member district to diminish the ruling party’s chances. The joint recommendations are published on Katz’s website and through the Smart Voting Telegram bot, a tool used since 2018.

Earlier, the Yabloko party called for voters to spoil their party-list ballots and use only paper ballots on September 20, after its federal list was removed by the Supreme Court. Ilya Yashin, another exiled opposition politician, endorsed the “noon voting” approach, noting its legality and symbolic impact. The collaboration marks a rare alliance after years of disputes between the Anti-Corruption Foundation and Katz’s team.