Press Release, 30.04.2021

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov sent an appeal to Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Electoral Commission, proposing to hold a one-day rather than three-day voting in the elections to be held in September 2021. Rybakov also proposed not to conduct early voting, remote voting and outdoor mass voting in order to avoid possible violations.

It should be noted that Articles 63.1, 64 and 65 of the Federal Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation” allow different forms of voting, such as:

– voting within three days;

– the possibility of early voting;

– mass voting outside the premises for voting (in adjoining territories, in settlements, on sports grounds and in vehicles, etc.);

– remote electronic voting.

Rybakov believes that these norms create huge opportunities for violations in the elections in Russia.

Three-day voting and early voting should not replace voting on a single election day. A special (single) voting day reduces the risks of forcing voters to participate in elections and, through public observation, creates opportunities to prevent fraud.

– At least one in three voting days turns out to be a working day, making it easier for employers to force their workers to vote for certain candidates.

– A significant part of active citizens who want to exercise their right to observe the elections and work of electoral commissions will not be able to be present at polling stations and other voting places on weekdays due to their employment at work.

– Three-day voting makes it difficult to ensure public control over the inviolability of ballot boxes (safe-packages) at night.

“The practice of voting on the approval of amendments to the Constitution [on July 1, 2020] and elections in 2020 confirms these conclusions,” Rybakov noted.

Председатель «Яблока» заявил, что голосование вне помещения избирательного участка делает невозможным осуществление контроля со стороны штабов кандидатов и партий. Кроме того, голосование вне специального помещения не обеспечивает соблюдение тайны голосования. Рыбаков напомнил, что в 2020 году гражданам приходилось открыто заполнять бюллетени на улице.

The Yabloko chairman said that voting outside the premises of the polling station makes it impossible for the headquarters of candidates and parties to exercise control. In addition, voting outside a special room does not ensure the secrecy of voting. Rybakov recalled that in 2020, citizens had to openly fill out ballots on the street.

There are no criteria for assigning certain places to the categories where voting is possible, and the procedure and terms for publishing information on where and when such a vote will take place have not been established. This means that voting will take place at the discretion of electoral commissions arbitrarily – anywhere, anytime, and citizens, candidates, members of electoral commissions and observers from candidates will learn about it literally half an hour before voting.

“The impossibility of public observation of the remote electronic voting procedure is also a significant problem that generates mistrust in its results,” the Yabloko leader noted.

Nikolai Rybakov suggested that when organising the elections of deputies to the State Duma of the Russian Federation and other elections in 2021, the Central Electoral Commission should neither fix a three-day voting, nor establish early voting, nor conduct mass voting outside the premises, nor establish remote electronic voting, but appoint a single day for voting.

“As the experience of the 2020 elections has shown, three-day voting does not lead to an increase in voter turnout, and, therefore, does not create additional opportunities for citizens,” the Yabloko Chairman said.