Sochi residents complain about failure to find polling stations for early voting

In Sochi, one of the electoral precincts of the Central District, opened for early voting in the election of the City Mayor, was opened two days after the official date of opening without proper announcement, and residents of the resort city were complaining that they could not find their electoral precinct for voting. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent detected the location of the precinct election commission (PEC) No. 46-58; however, he did not succeed in the attempts to enter it: a staff member of the private security companies, which ensured the protection of the building, stated it was a "sensitive facility".

Residents of the residential community of Maly Akhun of Sochi also report on their problems in finding the electoral precinct for early voting.

The PEC No. 46-58 is located in the Central District, in the building of the Sochi State University in front of the Sochi city administration. Despite the fact that the early election was opened on September 3, as of September 5, the electoral precinct was not designated by a blue banner with identification marks. It appeared only after the visit of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The election commission reports on 215 electoral precincts in Sochi, including 62 of them in the Central District. They are headed by to the Territorial Election Commission (TEC) "Central" located in the building of the regional administration. Vadim Belous, the Chairman of the TEC "Central", has noted that some violations were recorded, but they were insignificant.

According to Vadim Belous, "unfortunately, not all staff members of private security companies and members of election commission are competent enough; they can make mistakes, and thus, they can violate the rights of other people and can be not aware of their own rights and responsibilities."