The political campaign "For Fair Elections" was launched in Russia in December 2011 and was dedicated to the results of the elections to the State Duma, which the opposition considered invalid. The second wave of actions and rallies with the general slogan "For Fair Elections" took place in February and March 2012, on the eve and after the election to the post of President of Russia.
On December 4, 2011, the regular elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation took place in Russia, following which the United Russia party was in the lead, headed by the then-President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev. On December 10, representatives of other political parties and non-partisan oppositionists who disagreed with the election results went to Bolotnaya Square in Moscow, demanding a recount of votes and an investigation into the facts of falsification of ballots at polling stations.
The first of the actions in the campaign "For Fair Elections" gathered, according to independent experts, about 50 thousand people, and most of them received an invitation to go to Bolotnaya Square on social networks of the Internet. President Dmitry Medvedev responded to the demonstrators' demands by writing on his Facebook page that he did not agree with the slogans.
As a result of the action, the organizing committee of the For Fair Elections movement, which included politician Boris Nemtsov, writer Grigory Chkhartishvili (Boris Akunin), journalist Oleg Kashin and others, set the date for the next meeting. On December 24, 2011, Muscovites gathered on Sakharov Avenue, and rallies were organized in other Russian cities. In addition to the cancellation of the election results, the opposition demanded the release of political prisoners and ignoring the candidacy of Vladimir Putin, the prime minister of Russia, in the upcoming presidential elections.
In early 2012, as part of a public-political campaign, the League of Voters was created, whose representatives emphasized that they were not going to become a political party. Meanwhile, Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Putin announced that he was ready to meet with representatives of the League.
On January 29, a motor rally was held in Moscow under the slogan "For Fair Elections", and on February 4, another procession took place. The people in the campaign began to be called "white tape" - white ribbons became a symbol of the movement.
After the presidential elections held in Russia on March 4, 2012, which was won by Vladimir Putin, a second wave of campaigning began. On the day after the elections, rallies were held at Pushkinskaya and Bolotnaya squares again demanding a review of the voting results. Another mass action, "March of Millions", took place on the eve of the inauguration (inauguration) of the President of the Russian Federation.
