Status: 18.09.2021 4:20 p.m.
In Russia there are numerous complaints about violations in the parliamentary elections – among other things, there are reports of forced voting and failed camera surveillance. The election commission wants to examine the allegations.
After numerous complaints about forced voting in the parliamentary elections in Russia, the Central Election Commission has announced an examination of the allegations. There are 137 notifications from 45 regions of the country “about the compulsion to vote,” said election supervisor Ella Pamfilova. Accordingly, there should also have been pressure on voters to cast their vote in the new online process.
The independent election observation organization Golos had published numerous videos on which hundreds of uniformed men and presumably entire workforces from state-owned companies can be seen in the polling stations. The pictures of the long queues were explained by the fact that the civil servants had been asked to cast their vote around noon on Friday after the start of the three-day parliamentary election.
However, the vote was set for three days for the first time on the grounds that this was necessary in times of the corona pandemic in order to maintain social distance. Critics suggest that the longer choice is supposed to make manipulation easier.
Parliamentary elections in Russia overshadowed by allegations of censorship and fraud
Ina Ruck, ARD Moscow, daily news 8:00 p.m., September 17, 2021
Complaints about failed camera surveillance
Golos also posted footage and photos of ballot boxes being crammed with ballot papers. This is considered to be a very common method of election manipulation in Russia. The number of these videos was hardly manageable.
At the same time, there were complaints from several parts of Russia that the camera surveillance had failed again and again. In the past, those responsible for the violations have sometimes had trouble with the authorities – because of the video evidence. This time observers also complained that letters of complaint were simply torn up. Election supervisor Pamfilowa invited Golos to talk about the possible violations.
Electoral authority: Foreign attempts at meddling
The state electoral authority reported on foreign meddling attempts on the Internet. The authority announced that three cyberattacks had been registered on Friday that had come “from other countries”. The attacks were “pretty strong”.
Two attacks were directed against the website of the electoral authority, said its boss Alexander Sokolschuk, according to the Interfax news agency. The third was a DDoS attack designed to slow down or paralyze websites. The head of the authorities did not say which countries are behind the reported attacks.
The elections end this Sunday. Not only will the 450 members of the new State Duma be elected, some new regional and city parliaments will also be elected. In the total of more than 4,400 elections, over 31,000 new mandates are awarded.
Parliamentary elections in Russia: at the polls and online
Martha Wilczynski, ARD Moscow, September 18, 2021 7:11 am