CAN voters be trusted with democracy? Not in Russia: Vladimir Putin barred plausible alternative candidates from standing and rigged votes to ensure his victory in the recent presidential election.

If Mr Putin thought more highly of voters in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, he miscalculated. In November they voted for Alla Dzhioyeva over Anatoly Bibilov, the Russia-backed candidate. But the Supreme Court in Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, annulled Ms Dzhioyeva's victory, citing unconvincing allegations of fraud. The electorate has been given a second chance to get it right this Sunday, and the authorities have ensured Ms Dzhioyeva is no longer on the ballot.

Voters in Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia, were given more leeway in last summer's presidential vote when they chose Alexander Ankvab over Sergei Shamba, Russia's preferred candidate. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, even congratulated Mr Ankvab by telephone. Parliamentary elections in the region, on March 10th, were similar.

Why the difference between the regions? South Ossetia wants to accede to the Russian Federation, but many Abkhazians genuinely believe they have a future as an independent state. Russia is wise not to act in too heavy-handed a fashion there.

How much do all these elections matter? The United States, the European Union and NATO all see both regions as part of Georgia, and so dismiss the elections as illegitimate.

But some think this policy is counterproductive. Although refusing to recognise Abkhazia's independence is right, says Lincoln Mitchell, a Georgia-watcher at Columbia University, isolating the Abkhazians drives them further into Russia's hands. Abkhazia and South Ossetia rely on Russia for money, security and recognition; western policy gives them nowhere else to turn.

Georgia itself will hold parliamentary elections later this year, and presidential elections early next year. Russia has views on the correct outcome there, too. Earlier this month Mr Putin said that "much will depend" on the elections for the relationship between the two countries to improve. That is code for getting rid of Mikhail Saakashvili, the Georgian president who rode to power in the 2003 Rose revolution, and whom Mr Putin detests.

But Mr Saakashvili is a shrewd operator. Calling the parliamentary elections a "decisive battle" between Russia and Georgia, he claimed on March 12th that "democracy is always won by the people". One of his main challengers, Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire-turned-politician, is a Russian stooge, he implies.

Mr Saakashvili says he wants to hold "the freest" election ever held in Georgia. The country's democratic credentials are central to its foreign-policy goals. Last week Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, was in Tbilisi stressing the importance of democratic reform to ensure closer ties with NATO. The EU takes a similar line.

But Georgian democracy is in less than perfect health. Demonising Mr Ivanishvili as the pawn of a foreign power is typical of the election-fixing techniques recently described in The Economist. So too is the government's grip on national television channels, where newscasters often literally read from the same script.

The recent activities of the Chamber of Control, the body entrusted with enforcing campaign-finance regulations, are another cause for concern. Mr Ivanishvili described its recent questioning of dozens of opposition activists as "intimidation" and "psychological pressure"; Amnesty International called it "chilling". The chamber rejects all such charges. But it has fined outfits associated with Mr Ivanishvili a total of $4m.

Mr Ivanishivili faces another problem. Last year he was stripped of his Georgian citizenship, which he needs to lead a party standing in the parliamentary election, after revealing that he also held French citizenship. His political grouping says the government wants to deny his application to re-acquire Georgian citizenship through naturalisation.

The political temperature is rising. Last week Irakli Alasania, a former minister who is now part of Mr Ivanishvili's coalition, told diplomats [video] that Mr Saakashvili was transforming Georgia into a "totalitarian state". The government, he added, is arming paramilitary groups in preparation for "confrontation and civil war". He said he would provide more details this week.

Mr Saakashvili claims he is too busy running the country to bother with electoral campaigning at this early stage. But he found time to dismiss the hitherto moderate Mr Alasania as part of the "radical opposition", branding his allegations "idiocy".

Mr Ivanishvili's approval ratings are higher than those for than previous opposition leaders, but he is yet to offer a compelling vision for Georgia. Even though most opinion polls give the government a comfortable lead, Mr Ivanishvili's appearance has at least injected some life into Georgia's elections.

Whether that will be enough to tackle widespread apathy is unclear. As a farmer in central Georgia recently told a friend of mine: "I have cows and pigs. Why should I vote? I have enough shit in my life already."