Voters and observers criticized the course and results of the elections in Kuban

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Observers from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation reported numerous violations in the elections in Krasnodar Krai, calling into question their results. Residents of Sochi were skeptical about the results of the vote, saying that the results were predetermined.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, the current governor of Krasnodar Krai, Veniamin Kondratyev, won the regional elections for the third time time, gaining 83.17% of the vote.

From September 12 to 14, 2025, elections for the regional governor and local council deputies were held in Krasnodar Krai. Four candidates ran for governor: the incumbent governor Veniamin Kondratyev, the Communist Party candidate and incumbent Krasnodar Duma deputy Alexander Safronov, as well as Ivan Tutushkin (LDPR) and Denis Khmelevskoy (A Just Russia - For Truth).

Sochi residents interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent expressed a skeptical opinion about the course of the elections and their results.

"Firstly, how can you choose without a choice? "Secondly, the choice was made for us a long time ago," said mother of many children Elena Baranetskaya.

According to her, mothers of many children have repeatedly approached the current deputy of the Sochi City Duma with a request to "solve the problems of the microdistrict." "There has been zero reaction. Moreover, he simply blocked us, families with many children, in his blog on Telegram," she said.

They only need the people when they need votes for them during elections

Lyudmila Savelyeva admitted that she did not go to vote because she simply does not know any of the candidates. "I asked the deputies of the last convocation for help, but they did not even deign to answer me. "They only need the people when they need votes for them during elections," she believes, adding that such sentiments are shared not only by her family members, but also by most of those she knows.

Massive violations recorded during voting

Observers and candidates from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation complained about massive violations of electoral legislation throughout the region.

In Krasnodar, it was the observers and candidates from the party who were especially active. At polling station 2057, they recorded that ballots for the ruling party were not counted, and it was "assumed" that they were all for the current party. At polling station 2105, the chairman turns off the camera on video, after which he quickly hides the statements about home voting in the safe. A member of the Central Election Commission, Alexander Arutyunov, tried to stop the violations, but his actions were ignored. At polling station 6120, candidate Nadezhda Gurova and observers recorded "blatant lawlessness": the ballot counting was conducted in the next room, and the commission members obstructed the control, the safe packages had the wrong numbers. At polling station 3917, the final counting protocol was completed in 13 minutes, although the procedure includes checking the lists, canceling the ballots and counting several days in advance. Observers called it "pure show-off".

In Goryachy Klyuch, at polling station 1007, an observer from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was prohibited from recording the vote count. In Anapa, at polling station 0218, voter Ekaterina Silkina discovered that someone had already signed the voter book for her. A similar situation happened with Ksenia Tretyakova Ksenia at PEC 5011. Both wrote statements, observers demand that the corresponding safe packages be cancelled.

Candidates for the Anapa City Duma and members of the commissions publicly addressed the region's law enforcement agencies with a demand to protect fair elections. Observer and head of the "Anapa Civil" movement Oleg Yantsen emphasized: "Many statements have been written. All were handed over to the police and the election commission, but there was no reaction."

In Ust-Labinsk, at polling station 2904, observer Grigory Mashkov recorded on video the disappearance of 100 ballots from a safe package. According to him, it was possible to contact the prosecutor's office only through a crack in the fence, and the prosecutors "locked themselves from the inside", although before the elections they assured that they would be on duty during the working hours of the polling stations and "would be available".

At polling station 5816 in Novorossiysk, the candidate Artur May was not allowed into the precinct by unknown people in balaclavas. The police were called, and the commission members hid and did not explain the situation. At polling station 6021, observers and a member of the territorial election commission were denied the right to monitor the elections; one of the commission members falsely stated that the candidate “tore up the voter lists.”

In the Kurganinsky district, at polling station 27-18, the police took an observer away, allegedly to give an explanation. While he was at the station, the commission continued its work without supervision. The man wonders why the police could not question him at the precinct, but had to take him out of it. What happened at the precinct without him while he was giving testimony to the police, the man suggests that we guess for ourselves. In Abinsky, at polling station 0107, observer Valentina Simonova noted that the seal on the safe had been replaced. According to her, “they climbed into the safe at night.” The police were called, a statement was written, and no measures were taken. were.

The current deputy of the Krasnodar City Duma and candidate for governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Alexander Safronov, sent an appeal to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation with a copy for its chairperson, Ella Pamfilova. “We suspect and see that the electoral process is being falsified in the Krasnodar Territory… The turnout is being inflated, the voter lists are being hidden, and observers are being obstructed,” he wrote, in particular.

Safronov emphasized that all video materials and photographs, as well as statements to the police and election commissions, confirm the violations. “Our candidates and their teams stood like 300 Spartans against hordes of violators of the election legislation,” he noted.

According to the materials of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, violations were recorded throughout the region. “The elections in Kuban are an illustrative story about how the electoral process can be artificially “drawn,” and what difficulties candidates and observers experience trying to ensure fair voting,” the results of the elections were stated by the representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

In which regions of the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts the September elections were held can be found in the "Caucasian Knot" reference "Single Voting Day 2025 in the South of Russia". "Caucasian Knot" publishes materials about these elections on the page "Elections-2025: South of Russia".