With little chance of winning, Russia's hobbled opposition using election to highlight abuses

As Russians cast their ballots this weekend in a parliamentary election, several opposition members have been banned from running for office and more than a dozen have left the country amid a widespread political crackdown that's paved the way for the re-election of the ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin. 

One of the few high-profile candidates to make it onto the ballot is currently languishing in jail, charged with being part of an "undesirable organization."

"The State Duma election is the most terrible election I have seen since my birth," said Tatania Usmanova, the campaign manager for Andrei Pivovarov, who was hauled off a Warsaw-bound plane in May and arrested. 

Pivovarov, 41, is a candidate for the socially liberal party Yabloko and the former executive director of Open Russia, a pro-democracy group that was recently disbanded. It was one of several political groups deemed "undesirable" or "extremist" by the government in recent months. 

The label requires organizations to shut down or its members could face stiff fines and jail time. 

xThe crackdown on such groups coincided with the parliament's expansion of laws targeting so-called foreign agents, which are designed to cripple anyone expressing criticism of the government and the electoral process. 

"We have no freedom," Usmanova said. "Almost no opposition candidates are registered, so that's why it's difficult to call it the real elections."