Publicist Nabiev states violations at election of Makhachkala Mayor

The election of Mayor of the city of Makhachkala was accompanied by numerous violations. This was stated by Isalmagomed Nabiev, a resident of Makhachkala, a publicist and chairman of the independent trade union of entrepreneurs and drivers of Dagestan. He said that he had witnessed the members of the election commission filling in ballot papers by taking out passport data from voters' lists.

"My polling station No. 83 is in the area of the Separator Factory. I know the election outcome by 100 percent: the incumbent Mayor Said Amirov will be the winner; not because he is a great authority among townspeople, but because like previous elections this one was to be held with serious violations. But what I saw went far beyond my expectations," Isalmagomed Nabiev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his story, during several hours not a single voter had appeared at the polling station. Instead, three members of the election commissions were sitting in the voting room and thoroughly filling in ballot papers, while checking the data with the list of voters' passport data that were in front of them.

"When I asked: 'What are you doing? It's a criminal offence!' they told me: 'They forced us; and you address your complaints to the city administration," said Nabiev.

He said that militiamen were standing and watching the process. "I came up to them and asked to react to the lawlessness; however, they told me that their missions was to keep the public order, while filling in ballot papers was not an encroachment on order," said the source. He also reported that, according to his friends and relatives, similar picture was observed throughout the city.

In his turn, Abakar Abakarov, head of the press service of the Republic's Election Commission, said that the elections throughout Dagestan had been held under the law, and nobody had come to them with complaints.

Let us remind you that according to the election commission, voter turnout at the election of the city Mayor and deputies of the City Assembly made over 90 percent. Mr Amirov is City Mayor since 1998 and is re-elected to the post for the fourth time.