Voting behaviour of Crimean Tatars 2012-2018: for or against Russia?

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the voting behaviour of Crimean Tatars before and after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. The main question is: do they take part in voting, thus de facto legitimizing the new status quo, or do they largely boycott elections, thus indirectly refusing to accept the annexation? The article found that Crimean Tatars were already not particularly active as voters before 2014. After the annexation, a lot of them boycotted the elections held in 2014 and 2016. But by 2018 Moscow managed to attract more than a third of voters in Tatar-dominated areas. As a result, their voter turnout at the 2018 Presidential election almost reached the level of 2012.