Nicolas Tonev // Photo credit: Alexander NEMENOV / AFP
modified to
1:50 p.m., March 17, 2024
In Russia, Vladimir Putin should be elected to a seat with, according to the official order, more than 80% of the votes, thus allowing him to stay in the Kremlin until 2030. A success at the polls that we owe to methods of cheating used on a large scale by the authorities to even more easily grant very high scores to candidate Putin.
Vladimir Putin is expected to be re-elected as President of the Russian Federation for a fifth term. He would thus remain in power until 2030, having taken office for the first time in the year 2000. To guarantee him triumphant success at the polls, the Russian authorities are using large-scale cheating methods, most primitive to the most modern.
Give Vladimir Putin a plebiscite by all means
First operation, in full view of everyone, the stuffing of ballot boxes. A phenomenon that has been widely documented: “The Russians installed cameras in each polling station. During previous elections, we had clips showing ballot box stuffing,” explains Anastasia Kirilenko, a Russian journalist. Jams proven, but never sanctioned.
Another method, more complex this time, the “merry-go-round” or “carousel”, which allows over-voting: “I infiltrated such a carousel. The person who led the training of falsifiers said that each person could vote 30 times. There are police officers at the polling stations who will protect you.”
Finally, a more discreet and rapidly developing method, digital fraud: “In 2018, Navalny’s team denounced electronic fraud. Personal data was stolen. Elections are very digitalized. In Moscow, this is not You don’t even need to apply in advance to vote online. We can do that at the last minute.” The objective of these frauds is to win even better, to guarantee Vladimir Putin a victory in the form of a plebiscite.