Russia's rigged election gives Putin a mandate for all-out war

Observers described the Sept. 18-20 parliamentary election as the "dirtiest" vote in Russia's modern history. In a country that has not held free and fair elections for nearly three decades, that might seem like a difficult result to achieve.

During the election, numerous techniques were used to rig the vote on an unprecedented scale: forcing public-sector employees to vote, banning independent observers, ballot stuffing, manipulating electronic voting, and voting at gunpoint in the occupied territories.

Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev / POOL / AFP via Getty Images.