On behalf of the Central Election Commission of Russia, a random check of the one-time issue of ballots in the three-day elections to the State Duma has begun. It will also be held in several election commissions in the regions of southern Russia and the North Caucasus, but without the involvement of public activists, independent observers, and candidate representatives.
The appendix to Resolution No. 67/490-8 signed by the CEC Chairperson Ella Panfilova lists the polling stations in which the inspection will take place. These locations are 136 PECs in the Krasnodar Territory, 55 in the Rostov Region, 45 in the Stavropol Territory, 25 in Kalmykia, 11 in Kabardino-Balkaria, eight in Adygea, six in Dagestan, two each in Chechnya and Karachay-Cherkessia.
The election commission of the Krasnodar Territory, in response to a request from journalists, explained that the CEC documents do not provide an invitation to check observers and candidates whose status has already expired. Consequently, members of election commissions will check their own results without public control.
“On the one hand, the decision looks quite logical when it comes to personal data… There are doubts that the members of the commission will inform themselves about themselves," said political scientist Andrey Gusiy.
Ex-candidate for the Krasnoarmeysky single-mandate constituency No. 47 and secretary of the regional branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Alexander Safronov, stated that he had no hope "for a fair trial by the CEC. All recent events show that the CEC leadership, represented by Panfilova, is not disposed to improve the checks, which can be seen in the electronic voting system."
Safronov stressed that an objective verification of the election results in the Krasnodar Territory is necessary since there are "record-breaking polling stations where hundreds of people voted in a few hours during home voting. In some cases, one vote took two minutes, including filling out an application, the voting itself and the movement of the commission. The timing is absolutely fantastic."
As part of the protest action announced by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, a meeting of municipal deputies with the population was held in the centre of Krasnodar. More than 150 Kuban residents took part, protesting the claim of results falsification in the elections to the State Duma.
Sanal Ubushiev, a candidate for State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, filed lawsuits to challenge the election results, as well as to invalidate ballots from a number of polling stations due to gross violations to the Supreme Court of Kalmykia, Elista city, and two district courts.
