Voting Blogs: Russia’s elections that weren’t | openDemocracy

On 10 September, Russia faces another election. In some places, the vote is for municipal councils, in others for regional ones; two regions are holding by-elections for the State Duma (some single-seat district representatives have resigned for various reasons). Importantly, sixteen regions will be electing their governors. Since spring, political analysts have been predicting that two in particular (Buryatia and the Sverdlovsk Oblast) will see a real struggle with an uncertain outcome. In other regions, it seemed as though victory for the Kremlin’s candidates was far from assured. Such predictions did not appear unfounded. 

Spain: Catalonia officially sets independence vote for Oct. 1 | Associated Press

Voters in Spain’s prosperous Catalonia region will be asked to choose in less than a month if they want to secede from Spain, the region’s pro-independence ruling government announced Wednesday in a move that puts it in open defiance of central authorities in Madrid. Regional President Carles Puigdemont signed a decree that officially calls for a “self-determination referendum of Catalonia” to be held on Oct. 1. His entire cabinet, which includes politicians from various pro-independence parties, also approved the document to dilute responsibility in case of prosecution. The referendum clashes with the Spanish Constitution, which only gives national authorities the right to call such a vote. But Catalonia’s pro-independence lawmakers approved a bill earlier Wednesday that is meant to provide a legal justification for the independence vote.