The election official was commenting on an article titled "Five Strategies of Protest Behavior at the Russian Presidential Elections," which was posted on the Russian-language website of German public news corporation Deutsche Welle (DW).

The article advised Russian voters to spoil their ballots, to take them home instead of casting them, or to shun the polls altogether. The authors also suggested that voters should apply to vote remotely and then not avail of the option, as well as voting for a candidate "that causes less negative emotions" in order to decrease the eventual winner's margin of victory.