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Filtering Through Russian Elections

So you want to be mayor of Moscow? Join the crowd! But be prepared. Running for the highest office in the capital has some major stumbling blocks — linguistically, that is.

First thing: make coffee. No, that can't be right. But to become a candidate you do have to go through a filter — ?????????†?????°?»?????‹?? ?„???»???‚?€ (municipal filter) to be precise. Although it suggests a device at a water purification plant, it is actually the process by which a mayoral hopeful gets signatures from 5 to 10 percent of the municipal lawmakers to become a candidate. It's sort of like an e-mail ?„???»???‚?€ ???µ?¶?µ?»?°?‚?µ?»???????? ?????‡?‚?‹ (blacklist; literally filter for spam) — a safety valve to make sure that no undesirables get on the ballot.

Makes sense, right? ???°???? ???µ?€?¶?°?‚?? ???»?°??????! (We must maintain our standards!) But there's a catch. When all the municipal lawmakers are from one party, why would they sign a petition allowing another's party's candidate to run?

But let's say you make it through the filter. The next step is simple: ???°?±?€?°?‚?? ?????»?????° (get votes). You can do this in three ways: ?€?°?·???µ???‚???‚?? ?€?µ???»?°???? (place ads), ?????‚?€?µ?‚???‚?????? ?? ???·?±???€?°?‚?µ?»?????? (meet with voters), and ???€???????‚?? ???‡?°???‚???µ ?? ???µ?±?°?‚?°?… (take part in debates). The first is impossible for some, the last is beneath the dignity of others, and so kissing babies and babushkas seems to be your best bet.

When election day draws closer, you've got another headache: making sure your supporters actually vote for you. The ones who have decided to enjoy ?±?°?€?…?°?‚???‹?? ???µ?·???? (the "velvet season" of good weather in the south) in September need to get themselves ???‚???€?µ?????‚?µ?»???????µ ?????????‚?????µ?€?µ?????µ (absentee ballot), also called ?‚?°?»???? (voucher) or ?±???»?µ?‚ (ticket).

The phrase ???‚???€?µ?????‚?µ?»???????µ ?????????‚?????µ?€?µ?????µ troubled me for a long time. It literally means "certificate of unfastening" — ???‚???€?µ?????‚?µ?»?????‹?? being an adjective from the verb ???‚???€?µ???»???‚?? (to unfasten). What are you certifying that you are unfastened from?

It turns out that Russian citizens are said to be ???€?????€?µ???»?µ???‹ ?? ???????µ???? ?‚?µ?€?€???‚???€???°?»?????????? ???·?±???€?°?‚?µ?»?????????? ???‡?°???‚???? (registered at — or attached to — their territorial polling station), and to vote somewhere else, they must ???‚???€?µ???»???‚?????? (get unhooked).

???‚???€?µ?????‚?µ?»?????‹?µ ?±???»?µ?‚?‹ can be used in other contexts, too: ?—?°???????‚?µ ?·?°?€?°???µ?µ ?? ?????»???‡???‚?µ ???‚???€?µ?????‚?µ?»?????‹?? ?±???»?µ?‚, ???°???‰???? ???€?°???? ???° ?±?µ?????»?°?‚?????µ ???????µ?‰?µ?????µ ?????·?µ?? ?? ?»???±???µ ???€?µ???? (Stop in beforehand and get an open ticket that lets you visit the museum free of charge at any time). Here the ticket is "unhooked" from any date or time.

Being a dumb American — or a person without a talent for creative criminality — I couldn't figure out how ???‚???€?µ?????‚?µ?»?????‹?µ ?????????‚?????µ?€?µ?????? were, in the words of one analyst, ???€?????‹?‡???‹?? ???»?? ?€?????????????????… ???·?±???€?°?‚?µ?»?µ?? ???µ?‚???? ?„?°?»???????„?????°?†???? ?????»?????????°?????? (typical method of voter fraud for the Russian electorate). The law says you get the ballot at your polling place, bring it to another, hand it in and vote.

But some ???µ?????????? (rats) don't hand it in but use it to vote several times, and others print up a whole batch of fake ones. This is why your next task as a candidate is to set up a good system of ?????????‚???€?????? (monitoring), and an even better system: ???????????µ???‚?°?†???? ?„?°?»???????„?????°?†???? (fraud documentation).

In case of fraud, you've got to make a stink. At this moment, don't be surprised if a filtering process makes another appearance. As you rant, someone from the opposing party is likely to growl: ?¤???»???‚?€???? ?±?°?·?°?€ (watch what you say, bub).

Better luck next time.

Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.

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