Opposition parties claim violations at voting in Astrakhan

Members of precinct election commissions (PECs) with a decisive vote were not admitted to work before the opening of four polling stations in Astrakhan, members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) have stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today residents of the Astrakhan Region voted for Deputies of the Regional Legislative Assembly.

The above commission members could not supervise the process of sealing electronic ballot boxes and throwing in the ballots of early voters, said Zarina Dryaba, a member of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya".

Khalit Ayitov, the secretary of the CPRF Astrakhan regional committee, has confirmed that PEC members with decisive vote were not admitted to work "under a contrived pretext".

"They demanded, in particular, from us to have a seal on the application-direction from the candidate; however, according to the law, candidates are not obliged to have a seal. While they were clearing out the problem at the Regional Election Commission, they managed to seal out the boxes, open the envelopes with flash drives and install them and throw in the ballots of early voters – all without the supervision of opposition parties," Khalit Ayitov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.