"Spravedlivaya Rossiya" demands re-count of votes in Astrakhan Region

The "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party does not recognize the results of the election to the Legislative Assemblies of Saint Petersburg and Astrakhan. This was reported today by Sergey Mironov, the Party's leader. According to him, in both regions, the law was violated during the voting, and the Party would appeal to the Central Election Commission on that fact.

Let us remind you that on December 4, residents of the Astrakhan Region, like all citizens of the Russian Federation, elected deputies to the Russian State Duma and deputies to the Regional Duma.

"Spravedlivaya Rossiya" retains second place in region

According to the preliminary information, the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party occupies the second place in the Astrakhan Region in the election to the State Duma and to the regional parliament.

According to the information of the Regional Election Commission effective at 01:00 p.m. of December 5, about 54 percent of voters participated in the election.

In the election of deputies to the Sixth Convocation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party is the leader; 57.11 percent of voters participated in the election, voted for it. The "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party with 15.48 percent of votes occupies the second place; then, the CPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) follows with 14.78 percent of votes. The LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) gains 8.79 percent of votes.

According to the preliminary results, in the election of deputies to the Fifth Convocation of the Duma of the Astrakhan Region, the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party also leads with 51.92 percent of votes, then the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party follows with 16.49 percent of votes, the CPRF gains 15.61 percent, and the LDPR - 10.89 percent of votes, the "AstrahanFM" reports.

Sergey Mironov: we will demand re-count

According to Sergey Mironov, the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party does not recognize the election results in Saint Petersburg and Astrakhan, and it will demand a re-count.

"Our Party does not recognize the election results in the cities of Saint Petersburg and Astrakhan. There were violations and blatant fraud," stated Sergey Mironov at the today's press conference.

He has emphasized that in Astrakhan, "observers were driven away" from electoral precincts, and the results of the voting had been fraudulent. The similar situation occurred in Saint Petersburg, which, according to Sergey Mironov, could "become famous in the entire world as the city where the voting results could be falsified."

"We will insist on the fact that serious violations were committed, and we will appeal to the Central Election Commission, to the Prime Minister, to the President, and to anyone. We have real evidence of fraud, and we shall present it," Sergey Mironov has promised.

According to Nikolai Levichev, Chairman of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party, they understand that many people voted for the members of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party to "to deliver the greatest strike to the monopoly of the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party.

"We understand that we have deserve the voters' trust in advance; however, we will do our best to justify that trust," the RIA "Novosti" quotes Nikolai Levichev as saying.

Representatives of other parties also claim violations

Representatives of the CPRF also claim violations during the election. In particular, on December 4, at the electoral precinct No. 478, located in No. 15 'a' in Selensky Street in the city of Astrakhan, in accordance with the protocol completed by Elena Alekseyevna Velikanova, Chief of the Electoral Commission, police officers removed Andrei Devkin, the observer from the CPRF, and Matvei Tarasenko, the authorized delegate, from the voting hall. This was reported by the website of the CPRF. A complaint on that fact has been appealed to the court.

On December 4 and 5, the website "Violations map" (project of the association "Golos" (Voice) and "Gazeta.Ru") has published nine reports of violations in the Astrakhan Region, including violation of the summarizing rules, violation of rights of observers and media representatives, and illegal campaigning.

Alexander Zhilkin: elections conducted peacefully

According to Alexander Zhilkin, Governor of the Astrakhan Region, residents of the region have demonstrated their high activity in the election; they voted in good mood, and the election itself was conducted peacefully.

On the eve of the elections of December 4, twenty-four-hour duty of policemen was organized at electoral precincts, the number of electoral precincts in the region amounts to 580. According to Boris Lidji-Goryaev, the deputy chief of the police for maintenance of public order of the Department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) in the Astrakhan Region, police officers actively struggled against illegal campaigning. Since September, they confiscated about 20,000 newspapers and about 10,000 leaflets nonconforming with the electoral law.

On the facts of confiscation, 17 cases of administrative violation have been instituted. Mainly, they have been instituted under Article 12.5 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation "manufacture, distribution or placement of campaign materials in violation of the law on elections and referendums," the "Provintsiya.ru Astrakhan" reports.