Press Release, 21.07.2021

Photo: Nikolai Rybakov / Photo by Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant

Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Electoral Commission, labelled Yabloko’s law suit against the Central Electoral Commission in the Supreme Court demanding to provide public broadcasts from polling stations on voting days as “petty and mean”. Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov answers the head of the Central Electoral Commission:

– The duty of the Central Electoral Commission is to ensure fair and transparent elections, including the voting and the counting of votes. If there are no resources, there is no need to hold a vote in three days, tripling the costs of the work of members of electoral commissions.

A year ago, an absolutely senseless vote was held on amendments to the Constitution – they entered into force without this vote. But 18 billion roubles were spent on this.

It is absurd to install cameras in the polling stations and show these videos only in the lobby of the Central Electoral Commission. This broadcast should be available to citizens, this is their participation in the work of the state.

Now the parties will be provided with two links for watching 100,000 broadcasts from polling stations. This is a deliberate mockery.

We have a definite proposal: if the aforementioned billion roubles are needed for the broadcast, cancel the purchase of artificial flowers and spruce branches to decorate Moscow for the New Year and use these funds to provide broadcasting of voting and counting of votes. The Moscow authorities plan to spend exactly one billion on flowers and spruce branches. Fair elections are more important than spruce branches in the streets of Moscow.