A shaking hand of the United Russia party The Electoral Commission of the Sverdlovsk Region hampers YABLOKO’s campaigning for mandates in the regional parliament

“When they are ousting us from the election race this means that they are afraid of us!” said YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin. On February 9, 2010, the Sverdlovsk Region Electoral Commission with multiple violations of the law refused to register YABLOKO in the election race to the regional parliament.

The working group of the Electoral Commission gave a conclusion based on a graphologic expertise that 56% of the signatures collected by the party and required for registration in the race were “void”. However, the experts conducting the handwriting comparison gave contradictory answers virtually on all the lists. “Thus, the experts acknowledged 2,000 signatures void on a pretext that they had been made by a “shaking hand”, stressed Maxim Petlin, Chair of the Sverdlovsk regional branch of YABLOKO.

“Refusing to register YABLOKO’s list in the Sverdlovsk region after a refusal to register YABLOKO in the Kaluga region the authorities once again confirm that there is no evolution of Russia’ political system towards democratization and political competition,” stated YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin. “We go on living under the arbitrary rule of the bureaucrats servicing the interests of their own party – United Russia.”

Speaking about the experts’ assessment Sergei Lazaryev, number two in YABLOKO’s electoral list and deputy of the Sverdlovsk regional parliament, noted that four experts were unlikely to give a high-quality expertise on over 5,000 signatures in two days only. According to Lazaryev, YABLOKO is going to hold an independent expertise.

Maxim Petlin expressed his opinion that YABLOKO was not registered because this was ordered by the authorities. According to Petlin, the rating of the progovernmental United Russia party shrank by two-fold in the past two years, and the party was “clearing the political field” of any competitors.

Chair of the Sverdlovsk Region Electoral Commission Mostovschikov virtually worked in favour of the United Russia party making unjustified statements against YABLOKO. Already at the stage of collection of signatures he had made public statements that YABLOKO’s signatures would be acknowledged void. One of his decisions banning to include into the party list supporters who were not party members was overruled by the Central Electoral Commission.

YABLOKO is going to appeal the decision of the Sverdlovsk Region Electoral Commission in the Central Electoral Commission and in court if required. “The party has been preparing to conduct radical protest actions in view another wave of arbitrary lawlessness,” Mitrokhin told to journalists.