DISINFO: There is no doubt that democracy has taken hold in Russia, which is shown by the lack of criticism in the latest elections
SUMMARY
International observers had no serious criticism as to how the Russian Presidential election 2018 was organized or regarding the election results. Therefore, there is no doubt that democracy has taken hold in Russia.
RESPONSE
Actually, The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe stated that there had been no real choice in Russia’s presidential election and complained it had been marked by unfair pressure on critical voices www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-election-osce/osce-says-russian-presidential-election-lacked-real-choice-idUSKBN1GV1JN, The OSCE election observation mission to the presidential election in Russia 2018 stated in it's preliminary conclusions that; "The 18 March presidential election took place in an overly controlled legal and political environment marked by continued pressure on critical voices, while the Central Election Commission (CEC) administered the election efficiently and openly. After intense efforts to promote turnout, citizens voted in significant numbers, yet restrictions on the fundamental freedoms of assembly, association and expression, as well as on candidate registration, have limited the space for political engagement and resulted in a lack of genuine competition. While candidates could generally campaign freely, the extensive and uncritical coverage of the incumbent as president in most media resulted in an uneven playing field.Overall, election day was conducted in an orderly manner despite shortcomings related to vote secrecy and transparency of counting."