Stavropol: member of election commission states massive violations during voting

Sergey Kulagin, a member with decisive vote of the precinct election commission No. 10 of the city of Stavropol, said that at 60-70 percent of polling stations during elections of deputies of the City Duma, the required voter turnout was achieved by bringing voters from aside.

According to the Territorial Election Commission, at elections to the City Duma of Stavropol on party lists the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) is in the lead with 40 percent of votes. The CPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) in the runner-up with 25 percent of votes; the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) has won 21 percent of votes, and the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (A Just Russia) - 6 percent of votes. In Stavropol, 84,635 citizens took part in the voting, which makes 31.12 percent of all the voters on the list.

"People were brought in dark Gazel vans with 'special' license number plates. Road police never stops such cars. They brought elderly persons, homeless tramps and alcoholics. Activists of 'Spravedlivaya Rossiya' initiated deliveries of 'additional' voters, because they asked to tick a candidate from this party in the ballot paper," Sergey Kulagin told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Besides, according to Kulagin, at visiting (exit) voting many voters voted primarily for candidates from the "Edinaya Rossiya". "We went to exit poll to patients and elderly voters of precinct No. 10. Right from the threshold virtually all the voters said that they'd vote for Maxim Mashirov, a candidate from the 'Edinaya Rossiya'. They asked us: 'Where should I tick for the candidate from 'Edinaya Rossiya'?' This was explained by the fact that during the election campaign food parcels were distributed among homes on behalf of Mashirov," the commission member said.

Besides, complaints about the vote count at precinct election commissions of Stavropol arrived also to the telephone hotline of the Association of Non-Commercial Organizations (NCOs) named "Golos - In Defence of Voters' Rights". "At the polling station No. 93 during the vote count, the commission chair called someone by phone, received instructions and until he had finished nothing more happened. Unused ballot papers were extinguished, but not included in the enlarged form of the protocol," complained observers from that polling station.

Earlier, observers from the CPRF and LDPR told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that during the elections at some polling stations, members of election commissions with advisory votes and observers were restricted in access to voters' lists and other documentation. Besides, Maria Korobko, a candidate to the City Duma, stated a possible "throw-in" of ballot papers at polling station No. 82 of Stavropol.

The "Golos" Association fixed violations of media workers' rights during elections. According to the Association, the correspondent of the newspaper "Civil Voice", founded by the Association, was not let by the militia to polling stations Nos. 16 and 35 of the city of Stavropol. Besides, the telephone hotline of the Association received complaints about violations during the elections in other regions of the Stavropol Territory.

Meanwhile, the Stavropol rights defender Vasily Krasulya believes that there were no serious violations during the elections to local self-government bodies of the Stavropol Territory. "There were some procedural violations. But there were no such gross violations like 'throw-in' of ballot papers," he said.