Arrests, arson, and being fired for refusing to register for remote voting
08.09.2021
This is the sixth overview of reports of possible violations of electoral legislation gathered via the 'Map of Violations' by the Movement in Defense of Voters' Rights 'Golos' between August 30 and September 5. The Map is a project that collects information about possible electoral violations using the principle of crowdsourcing – observers, voters, members of commissions may report alleged violations witnessed during the electoral campaigning or voting using a submission form on the website or a telephone hotline. Pre-moderated submissions are published on https://www.kartanarusheniy.org/.
In total, from August 30 to September 1, 125 messages were received by the Map.
Typology of violations:
The typology of potential violations is as follows (one message may constitute more than one type of violation):
- Abuse of administrative resource - 58
- Violation of the rules of printed and outdoor agitation - 31
- Pressure from the authorities, coercion, bribery of voters - 16
- Violations of the rules of campaigning in the media - 15
- Unfounded refusals of registration and violation of the candidate's rights - 7
- Pressure from law enforcement entities - 6
- Threats to one's life, health, or property - 6
- Violation of the rights of commission members, observers, media - 4
Leading areas in the number of cases over the past week:
- Moscow - 23
- Samara Oblast - 17
- Moscow Oblast - 16
- Oryol Oblast - 8
- Krasnodarskiy Krai - 7
Since the beginning of the election campaign, 783 messages from 70 regions have been published on the 'Map of violations.'
Main trends
The number of incoming reports continues to increase. The election campaign is gaining momentum and the flow of messages related to various violations during the campaigning is growing.
There is more and more information about abuses related to the use of administrative resource and the coercion of voters, especially among the public sector employees. This was reported from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vologda, Kirov, Moscow, Samara, Saratov, Sverdlovsk, Oryol, Ulyanovsk, Penza, Tomsk, and Tula oblasts, the Republics of Bashkortostan and Dagestan, as well as Stavropolskiy and Krasnodarskiy krais.
The most alarming trend of the week is the increase in reports about the pressure from law enforcement entities on opposition candidates and encroachment on the life, health and property of both candidates and their staff.
TOP-5 violations of the week
Novaya Gazeta published1 an audio recording of a briefing on organizing falsifications in Korolev, Moscow Oblast. It is assumed that the 'briefing' was carried out by Zhanna Prokofieva, advisor to the head of the city.
The audio recording shows how the election commissions (with the support of the administration) would falsify elections in favour of United Russia. A statement was made that the ruling party should receive 42 to 45% of the votes on the party list.
In addition to mobile voting, which should account for 20% of the votes, duplicate electoral lists were supposed to be used as the main mechanism for falsification. On September 19, after the end of voting, the real lists were supposed to be replaced with the made-up ones.
On September 2, the recording together with the official request were forwarded to the Central Election Commission. The CEC then sent a special commission to Korolev to verify the facts.
In Rostov-on-Don, activist Bella Nasibyan was detained2 for five days due to her photo with a poster of the 'Smart voting'3 project. The police linked the project with the Anti-Corruption Foundation, recognized as a foreign agent4 and extremist organization5 in Russia. A protocol on the propaganda of extremist symbols was generated. Nasibyan was detained at the kindergarten where she was taking her three-year-old child.
As Nasibyan posted on Instagram, when she was taking the child to the kindergarten, about 10 people approached her, including both policemen and people in civilian clothes. They prepared a protocol on an administrative offense under Part 1, Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (propaganda or public display of attributes or symbols of extremist organizations), which provides for a fine of up to 2,000 roubles (approx., 23 Euro – REM) or an administrative arrest for up to 15 days.
The banner, which became the ground for the arrest, included posters of several politicians, among which was the State Duma candidate Alexander Ryabchuk, whose election campaign Nasibyan is a part of.
Among other leaflets, there was a poster of 'Smart voting.' Nasibyan claims that she wanted to show how the election campaign is going and did not even pay attention to the poster.
The Pervomaysky court of Rostov-on-Don took into consideration the police protocol and arrested Nasibyan for five days, finding her guilty of promoting the symbols of an extremist organization. The day after, after the hype in the media and social networks, the Rostov Court replaced the arrest with a fine of 2,000 roubles.
On August 30, in the Rostov Oblast, the candidate for deputy of the Aksai urban settlement Sergey Shalygin announced6 that unknown persons had burned down his house: 'I hardly slept today. Yesterday at 9:30 I saw a video on the SNT of how my house was burning. No one lived in the house, no one guarded it. There were no electricity/gas/heating appliances. The house was closed, that's how I had left it on a Saturday morning. As the neighbours said, they had heard a clap and the whole house had immediately gone up in flames. Of course, I'm not an expert, but it's clear to me that this is an arson. Question: who could I bother? I am a peaceful person, for a whole year I was building this house with my son. It was my capital and a future apartment for my son, who'd have had money after the sale of the house. Yes, I am a politically active person in Rostov and its region. And yes, I advocate for the need for changes in our country. I blog on Facebook, I run as a candidate for deputy of the Aksai City Duma.'
The house burned down completely.
In Moscow, the municipal deputy of the Cheryomushki district, Elena Selkova, stated7 that on August 30 she was fired after refusing to comply with the general director's requirement to register for electronic voting: 'I've worked at the federal state budgetary institution under the Ministry of Culture. I was contracted for a fixed period until August 31 (illegally, by the way). I was told that from September I would sign an indefinite contract, with no probationary period. I worked well, diligently (I can't do it any other way). In July I was even awarded. At the end of August, the director of the institution demanded that all employees register for electronic voting. The registration was supposed to be done by someone else, and namely by the head of the department. And the head did it in a simple way, through our work chat. I wrote in the chat that this requirement of the employer was illegal. Today I was fired.
P.S. Of course, I briefly summarized the main points [here]. The situation itself was longer and slightly more complicated. But these details are for the Moscow City Election Commission, the prosecutor's office, and the court.'
On August 30 and 31, in Krasnodarskiy Krai, a number of media outlets published8 campaign materials claiming that, thanks to United Russia, pensioners would receive pay-outs in the amount of 10,000 roubles (approx., 115.5 Euro – REM). None of the articles indicates that they have been printed with the party's electoral funds or is of a campaigning nature. Among them:
- YUG Times: 'United Russia announced the number of pensioners in Kuban who will receive one-time pay-outs'
- Yugopolis: 'This week pensioners in Russia will receive lump sum payments'
- Tvoy krai: 'Pay-out of 10,000 roubles will be transferred to cards of pensioners on September 2, 2021'
- Kuban news: 'A one-time payment of 10,000 roubles will be transferred on September 2 in favour of Russian pensioners'
- Apsheronskiy rabochiy: 'United Russia: Pensioners will receive a one-time payment on their cards this week'
- TV channel Krasnodar: 'On September 2, Russian pensioners will receive Putin's 10k roubles on their cards'
- 93.ru: 'Payments of 10,000 roubles will be sent to pensioners on September 2'
- Sochi1.ru: 'Payments of 10k roubles will reach pensioners on September 2'
Similar information was posted on:
- The city website of Novorossiysk: 'A payment of 10 000 roubles will be transferred to the cards of pensioners on September 2, 2021'
- The information portal of the Tbilisskiy rayon: 'United Russia: This week pensioners will receive a one-time payment on their cards.'
References:
1 https://www.kartanarusheniy.org/2021-09-19/m/58779
2 https://www.kartanarusheniy.org/2021-09-19/m/58783
3 A protest voting strategy put forward by the team of Alexei Navalny with the aim of depriving the United Russia party of votes in regional and federal elections – REM
4 For more details on what are 'foreign agents' and 'undesirable organizations' see a brief explainer – REM
5 The recent designation of Navalny's organizations as 'extremist' has opened opportunities for persecuting any persons in some way 'affiliated' with these initiatives – REM
6 https://www.kartanarusheniy.org/2021-09-19/s/3102970351
