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On the final day of voting, observers faced renewed obstacles to their work, commission members were removed from polling stations, party representatives were detained, and voters reported experiencing pressure.
Obstructing observation and removing people from polling stations
- In the Moscow region, observers and independent commission members are being removed from polling stations via court orders. In Dolgoprudny, there have been new reports of access being denied to some people, and at one polling station, there was a suspected ballot stuffing incident.
- In Shchyolkovo, the head of the commission claimed that observers were allegedly not allowed to walk around the polling station. Even the police officer disagreed with her.
- In Perm, a major city in the Urals, there are attempts to push observers tens of metres away from the vote counting.
- In St Petersburg, an independent commission member was removed from the polling station, accused of attempting to steal a seal and of physical assault.
21 September, 10:09 The matter went to court, but the court did not find sufficient grounds to remove the commission member.
- Another commission member was suspended via court: they were accused of filming at the polling station and campaigning for “Yabloko.”
- In Moscow, observers are also reporting being put under pressure. One had the police threatened on them after insisting that those who wanted them be given paper ballots.
Detentions and fines
- The “Yabloko” observer detained the previous day in St Petersburg has been fined for disobeying police orders.
- In Izhevsk, a major city in the Urals, three Communist Party representatives were taken straight from the polling stations to the police.
- In Bashkortostan, a region in the southern Urals, an observer was fined after being recalled from the polling station by the Communists themselves. He refused to leave.
- The press secretary of Chelyabinsk “Yabloko” was held for several hours in police custody before being released without any charges. Police told them they had “mistaken their identity.”
Pressure on voters
- A Moscow schoolteacher shared that staff were forced to report their voting. According to her, colleagues were warned: “Anyone who doesn’t vote will be summoned to the headteacher or deputy head” (“called on the carpet,” as she put it).
- In Innopolis, a high-tech city in Tatarstan, an anonymous Telegram channel threatened to “force to the floor” anyone going to the polling station with apples. This was likely referring to “Yabloko” supporters.
Restricted access to polling stations
In Moscow, law enforcement officers were letting people in one at a time at several polling stations. Queues formed outside, even though, according to journalists, there was space inside.