Yes, the Russian election is rigged – but there could still be surprises for Putin

With the results of the vote already known in advance, it may be tempting to cast a blind eye to the proceedings, writes Mary Dejevsky. But after the death of Alexei Navalny, and uncertainty around Ukraine, things may not be quite as predictable as they seem...

The vote this weekend will be among the least savoury and most predictable renditions of the democratic process (AP)

In a bumper year for elections, with more than 60 countries, including the United States, India and probably the UK, all going to the polls, Russia’s presidential contest has drawn relatively little attention outside the country. And it is true that the vote this weekend will be among the least savoury and most predictable renditions of the democratic process.

It will be among the least savoury because, for a start, it is being held not just across Russia’s vast territory, but in some territories – Crimea and four regions of eastern Ukraine – that are not recognised as belonging to Russia at all.

It is unsavoury, too, because the process itself is defective in so many ways. Vladimir Putin is standing for a fifth term that would make him – in a parallel much cited by his detractors – Russia’s longest ruling leader since Stalin. He can do this, thanks to a 2020 referendum that amended the constitution essentially to restart the clock on presidential term limits – a change that seemed expressly designed to facilitate at least one more term for Putin.