Russia Pollster to Skip Presidential Vote Amid Kremlin Squeeze

(Bloomberg) -- Russia’s main independent pollster said it has stopped publishing surveys related to the March presidential election for fear of legal problems under a Kremlin-backed law that designated the group a “foreign agent.”

“They simply want to shut our mouth,” Lev Gudkov, director of the Levada Center, said in a telephone interview. The group’s surveys had shown likely turnout in the March 18 contest at about 52-54 percent, far below the levels reported by the two other main polling companies, both of which are controlled by the government. All three show 70-plus percent support for President Vladimir Putin, but low voter participation could undermine Kremlin hopes of winning a resounding mandate in the vote.

Russian authorities declared Levada a foreign agent in 2016, under a new law aimed at limiting alleged outside influence in politics. The move effectively bans it from publishing polls related to national votes, Gudkov said. He dismissed the official justification for the status -- receipt of foreign funding -- as “complete garbage.” Before the designation, Levada’s polls had showed a decrease in support for the ruling United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections.

Levada will continue to conduct election polls during the campaign, but won’t publish them before the vote because it could lead to charges of election meddling that could be grounds to close the pollster down, Gudkov said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday the other pollsters are adequate. “Of course, Levada is a big organization that has a reputation, but unfortunately, by law it is an agent and it can’t perform this kind of activity,” he told a conference call.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin

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