The observer reported a violation at the polling station in Gelendzhik.

The safe with filled ballots was found outside the video surveillance zone at the polling station in Gelendzhik, said observer Svetlana Terezhol.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the main voting in the State Duma elections takes place on September 18, 19, and 20. Early voting has been organized in 13 municipalities of the region and in the federal territory of Sirius: depending on the area, it takes place from September 14 to 17, so in part of Kuban, voting will last up to seven days.

19:36 16.09.2026

Analysts doubt the ability of protest potential to influence the election results in Kuban

Protest sentiments in Kuban may manifest primarily in the refusal of some dissatisfied residents to participate in voting, rather than in increased support for opposition parties. This is facilitated by distrust in the elections and the weakness of party structures, analysts interviewed by "Caucasian Knot" indicated.

A statement on behalf of Svetlana Terezhol was posted last night in the Telegram channel "Good Gelendzhik" (7,990 subscribers) with a note "please publish".

"My name is Svetlana Terezhol and I am an observer in the elections. Today at my home polling station UIK 0908, located in a school near the city administration, I recorded a violation of election legislation and filed a complaint with the commission that the main video surveillance camera at the site is watching the polling station. Camera 2 is intended to cover the safe located at the opposite end of the gym, which stores safe packages with ballots that have already been filled out. These should only be opened on the last day of voting, during the counting of votes and establishing the results. And at night, access to them is prohibited, as the security of the ballots must be ensured during multi-day voting, for which video surveillance is installed," the publication states.

According to Terezhol, she made a remark to the chairperson of the commission. "And suggested eliminating the violation. To which an official response was given: the camera is in order. And verbally they explained: we are not to blame, the cameras were installed by [the telecommunications operator], we cannot touch anything," she reported. As of 10:05 Moscow time, Telegram users had not commented on the observer's statement.

Recall that in September 2024, Svetlana Terezhol was an observer from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the by-elections of deputies in Gelendzhik. At that time, with her participation, statements about violations during voting at one of the polling stations were submitted to the election commission and the police.

Materials on the 2026 electoral campaign have been collected by "Caucasian Knot" on the page "Elections-2026: where will the protest go?".