In the aftermath of the parliamentary elections in Russia, the opposition’s anger over the organization and sincerity of the ballot is concentrated in one place in particular: Moscow. Sunday evening September 19, its representatives were in the lead in the majority of the constituencies of the capital; Monday they lost everywhere. The turnaround is so brutal that even the placid Communist Party has indicated during the day that it does not “Did not recognize” the Moscow results.
The question is sensitive in more than one way: the authorities have always expressed great fear at the idea of arousing discontent in the capital; this is where the effect of “Smart vote” promoted by the Navalny camp turns out to be the most visible; the dispute concerns the electronic voting procedure, described as perfectly secure and intended to be extended to the whole country.
Late and disturbing results
On Sunday evening, the United Russia presidential party was the loser in nine of the capital’s fifteen constituencies, sometimes with significant gaps. At the head, seven communists, a candidate of the liberal party Yabloko and an independent candidate.
All that remained was to announce the results of the electronic vote, offered this year to voters in Moscow as well as those in six other regions. About two million people had registered for this procedure protected by a system of blockchains and for which the authorities had carried out an intense promotion campaign. Under the arguments put forward: the promise of a result available immediately, as was the case in the other six regions.
Except that these results did not arrive. Neither at midnight nor at 8 a.m. on Monday. Voting officials did not report any technical issues, citing only one “Recount”. Promised for 11 a.m., then for 2 p.m., the results were finally put on the sly on the website of the Electoral Commission, which announced that the official confirmation would not come before Friday.
These results are disturbing: everywhere, they are enough to reverse the trend and elect candidates for power. An example, that of the district number 197, in the west of Moscow. On Sunday evening, the representative of United Russia, Yevgeny Popov, had 27,000 votes against 37,000 for his opponent, Mikhail Lobanov.
The first is a star television presenter, more used to discussing the United States or Ukraine than on Moscow sidewalks, but decided to get into politics. The second is a local activist, professor of mathematics, without partisan attachment but presented in this ballot by the Communist Party. In its good result, the effect of “Smart vote”, and therefore the support of Alexei Navalny, there is little doubt, an additional reason to tighten power.
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