‘Smart vote’ protests in Russia deal Putin’s party a blow in elections

In Russia's municipal elections on Sunday, President Vladimir Putin's party, United Russia, was dealt a significant blow.
The results were part of a "smart vote" strategy orchestrated by the opposition. At the suggestion of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, many anti-Putin voters decided to vote for anyone other than a candidate from Putin's party, even candidates that voters might otherwise find distasteful.
"This was an experiment, and in those cities and regions where it was implemented for the first time, it worked very very well," Navalny said.