Election Commission and "Golos" differ in assessing elections in Adygea

The Election Commission of the Republic of Adygea has fixed no violations during the elections to the State Council-Khasse of the Republic held on March 13. At the same time, activists of the Association "Golos" state numerous violations.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Yuri Khut, Chair of the Election Commission of the Republic of Adygea, no violations were fixed during the voting. He also noted that, according to preliminary data, more than 40 percent of the voters of the republic cast their votes.

Yunus Tlekhas, Deputy Mayor of Maikop, confirmed the words of the Chair. The fact of absence of violation was confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent also by the employee who was on duty at the telephone hotline.

Meanwhile, Lyudmila Kuzmina, coordinator of the NCO "Golos - In Defence of Voters' Rights", gives different figures. "Violations during voting in Adygea are in plenty. For example, reporters of the "Golos" were expelled from the polling station prior to vote count. A complaint was immediately filed to the prosecutor's office, they promised to investigate. And when we tried to call and learn about the taken steps the telephone of the prosecutor's office was already off," she said.

"At the farm named Krasnaya Ulka members of the election commission duplicated ballot papers, ticked them opposite the name of the candidate from the 'Edinaya Rossiya' and spread these 'prompts' among voters," Ms Kuzmina added.

She also said that the correspondent of the "Civil Voice" recorded bribery of voters at polling station No. 2 in the city of Adygeisk. According to the Association, unknown people, who did not present any documents to prove their IDs and justify their presence at the polling station, moved freely in its territory; and "near the polling station unknown persons from a parked car were handing out bottles of vodka to the voters who where on their way to ballot boxes."

"We have an audio record from Maikop, in which an employee of the Maikop State Technological University on the eve of elections, on March 12, offered money to correspondents for their refusal to act as observers of 'Golos' reporters. He says that he had been ordered to do so by some bosses from above," said Lyudmila Kuzmina. According to her story, on this fact applications were submitted to the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Adygea (RA), the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the RA, and to the CEC and Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.

Let us remind you that earlier violations during the vote in Adygea were stated by representatives of the CPRF, who had also addressed the General Public Prosecutor's Office of Russia and the Russian CEC.

In his turn, Asfar Kuek, assistant of Aslan Khashir, Member of the Council of the Federation of Russia from Adygea, who is running for deputy of the State Council-Khasse from "Edinaya Rossiya", reported that as of 5 p.m. Moscow time his party did not fix any violations during the vote.