Residents of Chechnya doubt truthfulness of reports on 95% voter turnout

The statement of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Chechnya about the high citizens' activeness during the vote on amendments to the Constitution of Russia were sceptically perceived by residents of the republic, who called the numbers "exaggerated" and the vote itself a farce.

On July 1, Russia finalized the vote on constitutional amendments. According to the Russian CEC, 77.92% of voters voted in favour of the amendments. The highest turnout in the country was recorded in Chechnya – 95%.

The local residents, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, were sceptical about the statements of the Chechen CEC.

"As always, our CEC showed the highest result, although in reality there was no activeness at polling stations during the whole week," said Lechy, a local resident.

Instagram users were same critical to the information voiced out by the Chechen CEC on the high voter turnout at Chechen polling stations.

"We're accustomed to frauds and falsifications; and we are not surprised at anything," the user 2265.svetlana has written. "At polling stations, there were far from the number of people stated by the CEC," she has added.

It should be noted that in the regions where independent observers worked, numerous violations were recorded during the voting on constitutional amendments.