Press Release, 10.09.2024

Photo: Candidate for the post of head of the Gdov district from the Yabloko party Yevgeny Vasiliyev / Photo by the regional branch of the party

The Regional Council of the Pskov branch of Yabloko adopted a statement on non-recognition of the results of the elections of the head of the Gdov district, the Pskov region.

“The Pskov regional branch of the Yabloko party considers the elections for the head of the Gdov district, which took place on 6-8 September, 2024, to be dishonest, and their results to be illegitimate.

The election campaign was accompanied by dirty political technologies, direct violations of federal and regional legislation, pressure on election participants and residents of the Gdovsky district.

Unidentified persons created and distributed fake videos on the Internet in which the Yabloko candidate had allegedly withdrawn his candidacy from the elections; a fake newspaper with outright lies about the party was distributed throughout the district. The police organised the persecution of the candidate’s headquarters staff who came to Gdov to work on the elections, and the observers who came from Pskov, under the pretext of their presence in the border zone without passes (the city of Gdov is part of the border zone, but it is visited daily by dozens of out-of-town tourists who do not order passes), and the persecution was also carried out outside the border zone. The tires of the car of one of the headquarters staff were punctured.

We believe that the centre of organising smear elections is located in Pskov and is directly connected with the regional political authorities,” the statement by the Regional Council of the Pskov Yabloko runs.

Yabloko also indicates that the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of the Pskov Region Igor Sopov publicly called on the staff of the electoral commissions of the Gdov District not to provide information and copies of documents to the member of the Electoral Commission of the Pskov Region from Yabloko with a casting vote, Yelena Mayatnikova. The candidate for the post of the head of the district, Yevgeny Vasilyev, was refused entry into the electoral commission for the vote counting by the Chairperson of the Gdov District Territorial Electoral Commission, Antonina Veselova, and she gave illegal orders to a police officer. The chairpersons of the precinct commissions refused to provide the candidate with any information about the voting process.

“The election process was non-transparent and was marked by abuses and violations of the law. The party and the candidate do not have copies of the acts on the number of ballots packed in the so-called “safe packages”, and observers were almost nowhere able to sign the safe packages when they were sealed. Observers were also not allowed to take photographs of the package numbers and their condition after sealing. This is a gross violation of the law and the rules approved by the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation.

The results of voting outside the polling stations cannot be considered reliable on any of the three voting days. The content of the voting on the first two days of the elections and the content of the voters’ vote on the main election day at the polling stations directly contradict each other – as if people from different places of residence voted. It was possible to ensure the honesty of the voting and vote counting only at a few polling stations, where observers were not interfered with, and at these stations, Yevgeny Vasilyev won,” Pskov Yabloko members indicate.

The party, the candidate and the member of the regional electoral commission filed statements to the Investigative Committee, the police, the public prosecutor’s office and the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation in connection with numerous cases of lawlessness in the Gdov elections.

“As a result of all the violations and abuses, the election results were effectively turned upside down. There have never been such elections in the Gdov District. Such elections call into question both the official voting results and the legitimacy of the head of the district elected in such a way and under such conditions. Such elections discredit the institution of elections as such,” the statement runs.

The Pskov regional branch of the Yabloko party considers Yevgeny Vasilyev to be the de facto winner of the elections for the head of the Gdov District.

The Pskov Yabloko thanks the voters of the Gdov District for supporting the candidate and his programme, participating in the election campaign and maintaining personal dignity in a situation of direct attack on the legality and fairness of the elections.

The Pskov Yabloko does not recognise the official results of the elections of the head of the Gdovsky District.