Sochi CPRF activists assert that polling stations work with violations at Mayor election

In the course of the inspection tour of the polling stations of the Tsentralny District of Sochi, conducted by activists of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), serious violations were detected. This was stated by the CPRF. The Chair of the territorial election commission (TEC) has admitted the facts of violations.

It was reported that on September 3, Sochi started the early voting; and locals complained that they could not find their polling stations; while Igor Vasiliev, the CPRF's nominee for the Mayor, claimed possible falsification of the early voting.

On September 8, Nikolai Scherbakov, a CPRF member from Sochi, and Sergey Mezentsev, a CPRF member from Krasnodar, being entitled as observers from the CPRF, visited the precinct election commission (PEC) No. 46-13, located in a dormitory at No. 6 in Krasnoarmeiskaya Street.

At the PEC, the observers met a woman without a certificate. When asked about the number of early voters, the woman flatly refused to answer. The PEC's Chairwoman also refused to show her certificate to the observers and provide information on the number of early voters. The women also turned down a request to show the lists of voters and the envelopes, in which ballots of early voters should be sealed.

Vadim Belous, the Chairman of the TEC "Tsentralnoe", reprimanded the above two women and pointed them to the violations. The observers from the CPRF also drew attention of the TEC Chairman to the envelopes without stamps and the unstitched lists of voters.