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The second day of voting has begun in Russia. Here’s what’s happening at polling stations and in their vicinity.
Observers barred from polling stations
- In Dolgoprudny, a town near Moscow, the commission chair refused entry to an observer from Yabloko and a journalist. When they tried to lodge a complaint, the chair said: “Sorry, but unfortunately, I can’t accept your complaint, because you are nobody.”
- In Perm, a major city in the Urals, independent representatives from the Communist Party (KPRF) and Yabloko were denied entry, with the excuse that there were supposedly no free seats. Only observers from New People and the Public Chamber were allowed to stay at the polling station.
Spam calls
- Maria Prusakova, a State Duma deputy from Altai Krai in southern Siberia, turned to the police over a spate of spam-bombing: she says a flood of nonstop calls and messages has made it almost impossible to use her phone.
- The campaign office of Nina Leonchenko, the Communist Party candidate in Khakassia, a region in Siberia, also reported a wave of anonymous calls. Both the candidate and her team are being targeted.
Ballot stuffing
In Pushkino, near Moscow, an election observer recorded a ballot-stuffing incident: the number and arrangement of ballots in the box had noticeably changed compared to the previous day. The polling station chair offered two explanations: the ballots were shuffled during cleaning, or it’s an “AI-generated photo.”
Police complaints
In Perm, the commission chair lodged a complaint against a New People observer for walking around the polling station, filming “from the wrong spot” and making comments. The observer gave an explanation to law enforcement, after which the officers left.