MOSCOW—When Russian citizens vote Sunday in state and local elections, they will be participating in a political process missing one ingredient critical to democracy: real competition. Despite the recent public outcry over a plan to raise the retirement age, which put President Vladimir Putin in an unaccustomed defensive position, most of the gubernatorial candidates are Kremlin loyalists. The handful of special elections for seats in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, have all but foregone pro-Kremlin conclusions....

Source: Wall Street Journal September 08, 2018 12:04 UTC