Press Release, 13.08.2020

On August 12, the Chelyabinsk regional branch of the Yabloko party filed a law suit with the Chelyabinsk Regional Court demanding to annul the refusal of the Electoral Commission of the Chelyabinsk Region to register the regional list of candidates for deputies of the Legislative Assembly nominated by Yabloko.

“The claim should be considered in an expedited manner, within five days,” Yaroslav Shcherbakov, chairman of the Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko noted. “If the claim is satisfied, we will have time to get on the ballot for the elections on September 13.”

“We will seek justice in the courts, “ Nikolay Rybakov said. “I am convinced that we will achieve this. In Chelyabinsk, the regional office is very active and rightly criticises the regional authorities and fights for the environment of the region. And therefore, the non-admission of Yabloko is a logical decision by the standards of the current government. Yabloko has the right to participate in the elections. There is not a single polling station in Russia without our supporters. And the authorities are depriving millions of our voters of the opportunity to vote for a real alternative to the current regime.”

The Chelyabinsk regional branch of Yabloko appeals to its voters:

“We really need witnesses to confirm our arguments: people who put their signatures in support of the party and whose signatures were rejected according to a certificate from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We have a big request to everyone who left their signature on paper, please respond, we will check if you “exist” according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”

It should be noted that July 24, the Electoral Commission of the Chelyabinsk region refused to register the list of candidates for the election of deputies of the Legislative Assembly nominated by the Yabloko party. This decision was appealed to the Central Electoral Commission. The latter, in turn, issued a resolution on the legality of the refusal to register Yabloko at the meeting on August 7.

The Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko submitted to the regional electoral commission 13,880 voters’ signatures in favour of the registration of Yabloko, of which 22 per cent were rejected by the electoral commission. Yabloko managed to prove some of the signatures valid at the Central Electoral Commission, consequently, the number of rejected signatures amounted to 19 per cent at the allowed level of 5 per cent. Elections to the Legislative Assembly will take place on 13 September.