Allegations of fraud in local elections
Victories for Putin’s Kremlin party are on the horizon
09/11/2022, 7:49 p.m
Elections are being held in Russia for the first time since the beginning of the Ukraine War. According to the first counts, candidates from the Kremlin party are ahead in the polls at the regional level. Observers speak of electoral fraud.
As expected, the regional elections in Russia in the evening saw a broad victory for the Kremlin party United Russia. In the Republic of Buryatia on Lake Baikal, for example, or in Sverdlovsk in the Urals, where governors were elected, the previous incumbents were ahead after counting the first votes, according to data from the central election commission. In the Siberian region of Tomsk, the candidate of United Russia also led in the evening.
The elections in more than 80 Russian regions were the first since the war against Ukraine began at the end of February – and they were overshadowed by massive allegations of manipulation. The independent election observers from the Golos organization listed numerous signs of fraud while the election was still going on. The Russian Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, said that no serious violations had been registered so far.
The opposition in Russia is under massive pressure. The situation has worsened since the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine. Dozens of government critics have been arrested or fled the country in recent months. Most independent media have been shut down.
In many regions, the elections were held over three days. For the first time in 2020, ballots were held for such a long time in order to limit the rush and the associated risk of corona infection. In mid-August, the head of the electoral commission, Ella Pamfilova, said the extended vote was an effective “preventive measure” and a “very practical format”. However, activists accused the government of using the long ballots to manipulate the votes. Since the ballot boxes would be stored for a long time before the count, the votes could be more easily falsified.
In addition to governors, local parliaments and district councils were also re-elected in many places. A total of around 4,700 elections were scheduled at different levels. More than 45 million Russians were called to vote.