Astrakhan opposition reports bribery of voters

In Astrakhan, each city resident got 700 roubles under formal pretexts for visiting polling stations on election days, and several complaints were filed to the police in connection with the above violations, members of opposition parties reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that yesterday, on a single voting day, elections of various levels were held in the regions of Southern Russia, with the exception of Kabardino-Balkaria.

On September 13, Khalit Aitov, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) faction at the Astrakhan City Council, reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about the attempts to bribe voters. "We detected cases of bribery in several places. A person is given a piece of paper with an abstract questionnaire, which nevertheless requires from him or her to come to a polling station. And there is an address of a district election commission on that piece of paper. And they give 200 roubles to a person, who comes with that piece of paper and votes. Near a polling station, some volunteers give calendars to voters. And people come back, where they received 200 roubles, and get other 500 roubles. That is, they took a vote for 700 roubles," Khalit Aitov said.

According to him, the city residents who get the money could not formally be considered the bribed voters. "Because they were not instructed whom to vote for. It was a simple measure to increase a voter turnout. [...] Moreover, we received information that a person could get even more 150 roubles for bringing another person to vote. Literally, it was like an action 'Bring a Friend'," Khalit Aitov reported.

Candidates running for seats at the Astrakhan City Duma and activists filed complaints to the police in connection with the above mentioned cases of violations, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Nikita Kunavin, a candidate to the Astrakhan City Duma from the CPRF.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 14, 2020 at 09:42 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.