| On a single election day October 10, YABLOKO’s Press Service
monitored violations during voting at the regions where YABLOKO’s
candidates stood for elections.
YABLOKO nominated a list of candidates for elections to the
legislative assembly of the Chelyabinsk region. YABLOKO’s
candidate also runs for the legislative assembly of the Novosibirsk
region. In nine more regions YABLOKO runs in municipal elections.
Violations at the elections in the Chelyabinsk region include
the following:
- YABLOKO’s observers registered mass-scale voting by absentee
ballots. Early in the morning on Sunday 405 people voted with
absentee ballots at polling station No 2029, and 300 people
at polling station No 2030. All these voters arrived to these
polling stations by special coaches (eight and ten coaches
respectively). The voters with absentee ballots at polling
station No 2029 tuned out to be workers of the pipe plant
and were dressed in workers uniform and went to the voting
booths by two or three.
- Also 571 people voted with absentee ballots at polling station
No 2032. About 400 voters with absentee ballots arrived to
polling station No 600 making a long queue to the voting booths.
- Heads of these stations, as well as representatives of the
of the Electoral Commission No 632 told to YABLOKO’s observers
that they would not be allowed to observe counting of the
votes and would not be given their copies of final protocols,
also the observers were not allowed to freely move within
the stations.
- At some polling stations voters photograph their bulletins.
Also some of the voters are given special pocket calendars
after the voting so that the voter could exchange this calendar
into some remuneration. Thus, students could obtain theatre,
cinema or other tickets for free.
- Polling station No 595 demonstrated “carousel” voting: a
voter gets the bulletin and takes it out of the station to
the street without voting where he exchanges his bulletin
on another one with a “correct” mark and after this he returns
to the polling station to vote with this faked bulletin. Unidentified
persons were buying votes (RUR 500 per vote) by polling station
No 612. An unknown person gave money to voters coming form
polling station No 599 and 601. Observers working at polling
station No 607 reported that voters were paid RUR 2.000 per
an absentee ballot by an Ariant company. The observers called
the police, however, the policeman did not take any measures
after talking with the person distributing money.
- YABLOKO’s observers also reported mass-scale voting at home.
96 people voted at home at polling station No 642. Representatives
of polling station No 636 refused to give any information
about voters voting at home.
- Voters reported to YABLOKO that teachers of school No 35
called parents of the pupils on the threashold of the voting
day asking them to come to the polling station and threatening
that their children “would have trouble” in the opposite case.
See also:
Regional
Elections, 2010
YABLOKO
registered for election race in the Chelyabinsk region and
Tomsk. Press Release. September 8, 2010
The
Electoral Commission of the Chelyabinsk Region validated YABLOKO's
list of candidates for regional election. Press Release. August
17, 2010
Women top
YABLOKO’s election list in the Chelyabinsk region.
Press Release. August 7, 2010.
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