Observers claim obstacles to election monitoring in Krasnodar Territory

At least three cases of obstructing the work of observers and one case of pressure on a member of the election commission were recorded on the second day of voting in the Krasnodar Territory.

Voting at the presidential election is taking place in Russia on March 15-17. Observers in the Krasnodar Territory have complained of violations during mobile voting and interference with their work at polling stations; many of them have also faced pressure.

In the Krasnodar Territory, observers and members of election commissions have reported pressure, as indicated on the website "Map of Election Violations", run by the "Golos (Vote) movement*.

Thus, after the end of voting on March 15, Yulia Matsoka, an observer, was not allowed out of the polling station in Krasnodar until she signed a sheet confirming that there were no violations at the station. Yulia did not agree; she was put under moral pressure and physically prevented from leaving after the station was closed.

Baranova, an observer from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), has complained that after the closure of the polling station in Krasnodar, members of the commission prevented her from filming and used physical force – they tried to push her away.

At a polling station in Krasnodar, another observer from the CPRF was searched after he called the police in connection with a suspicion that a safe had been opened. After the observer came to the polling station, he found out that the safe was sealed differently than recorded in the photo he took the day before after the station was closed. The police asked the observer to empty his pockets and searched his clothes, after which they took an explanation from him.

*On August 18, 2021, the "Golos" (Vote) all-Russian public movement in defence of voters' rights was included in the new register of unregistered public associations performing the functions of a foreign agent. The movement's website is blocked in Russia.