Parnas, the only opposition party allowed into Russia's regional elections, will face off against spoiler group ‘Parzas’

After being the only area in Russia to allow candidates from Parnas (the People’s Freedom Party), members of the opposition's "Democratic Coalition," to run in local elections later this year, Kostroma officials have also added to the ballot candidates from a political party called Parzas (the Party for Justice), a spoiler group apparently created to confuse voters and dilute support for Parnas. On the ballot voters will see on September 13, Parnas and Parzas appear on the same page, just four lines apart.

• The Russian opposition has put forth candidates for 2015 regional parliamentary elections in Kostroma, Kaluga, Magadan, and Novosibirsk regions. In most of these regions, opposition candidates are running as representatives of the Democratic Coalition, an alliance between several opposition groups (Parnas, Alexei Navalny’s Party of Progress, the Democratic Choice Party, the 5th of December Party, and the Libertarian Party). In Kostroma region, candidates are running as representatives of Parnas, the People’s Freedom Party.
• The elections commissions of all regions but Kostroma have barred the opposition from elections.
• Earlier, Kostroma elections officials recommended removing the opposition's candidates from the race because they had allegedly fallen short of the minimum required number of signatures in support of their party. The elections commission reviewed the recommendations and ruled that they were unfounded.
• Elections will take place on September 13, 2015, on Russia's general Election Day.