Aliy Totorkulov refused in registration as a candidate to State Duma from KChR

At the meeting of the Election Commission of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) held on August 12, the decision has been made to refuse Aliy Totorkulov, the chairman of the Russian Congress of the Peoples of the Caucasus, in the registration as a candidate to the Russian State Duma.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the voting at the elections to the State Duma is scheduled for September 18, 2016. By August 3, out of 12 candidates, 11 were registered in the KChR as candidates to the State Duma.

Out of 13 members of the election commission, in the course of the secret voting, six members voted for registration of Aliy Totorkulov, and seven other voted against. This was reported by Azret Karaev, a staff member of the pre-election campaign headquarters of Aliy Totorkulov, the director of the Karachay branch of the Foundation for Assistance of Karachay-Balkar Youth Development "Elbrusoid".

"First, one of the members of the election commission, a member of the 'Edinaya Rossiya' Party, claimed that the signatures collected by Aliy Totorkulov are questionable. Then, the secret voting was announced," explained Azret Karaev.

Meanwhile, according to Azret Karaev, "at the beginning of the meeting, Mekhti Baitokov, the chairman of the election commission of the KChR, announced that on August 11, he visited the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Russian Federation, where he had been recommended to admit Aliy Totorkulov to the elections."

"We believe that the decision pronounced by the election commission is illegal, since no quorum was provided. In total, there were 14 members of the election commission, and only 13 of them took part in the voting," Azret Karaev has added.

He has also claimed that during the entire pre-election campaign, administrative resource is used against Aliy Totorkulov. "In the near future, Aliy Totorkulov will file a complaint to the CEC of the Russian Federation about the actions of the election commission of the KChR," said a staff member of the activist’s pre-election headquarters.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.