‘Golos’ request for CEC action in Korolev

by Natalya Tikhonova

The movement advocating for voter rights ‘Golos’ requests the CEC to investigate the persecution of election observers in Korolev. There the polling day resulted in five administrative protocols on intervention in commission work (Article 5.69 of the Administrative Code).

The PEC members in an advisory capacity were accused of taking pictures of voters’ personal data, entering voting booth, causing delayed departure for mobile voting and distracting the other election officials by asking questions in the most inappropriate moment.

Пред.УИК:Как наплыв избир-й - хождение с телефоном, задавание вопросов, подход к кабинкам,спискам,нет наплыва-все спокойно.

— СОНАР (@sonar_russia) 27 октября 2016 г.

До суда дошли четыре дела. По итогам их рассмотрения всех наблюдателей признали виновными и оштрафовали на суммы от 2 до 3,5 тысяч рублей.

Итого,суды над ПСГ УИК Королёва по5.69 КоАП:виновны,штраф Горбунов(УИК 3587),3500 Ширяев(3588),2000 Калмыков(1088),2000 Кузнецова(1110),2000 — СОНАР (@sonar_russia) 27 октября 2016 г.

Four cases reached the trial. All the accused observers were found guilty and fined 2 to 3.5 thousand rubles.

Пришло время апелляций на решения по ПСГ УИК#Королёв #суд #5.69 pic.twitter.com/O1Pvb3izQq

— СОНАР (@sonar_russia) 31 октября 2016 г.

The defense is going to appeal the court's decision; Vladimir Shiryaev was the first one to do file an appeal. The coordinator of ‘Golos’ movement reported that on the polling day, September 18, in Korolev several observers were expelled from 12 PECs. Moreover, the observers had to leave the polling station No. 1094 as they were threatened. Under the law amendments, only a court is authorized to expel an observer or a PEC member in an advisory capacity from a polling station. In Korolev, this provision was neglected, shifting the authority to law enforcement agents.

Полиц:по инструкц я вызвал группу,для документир-я.Алису просили проехать в ОВД для составл-я протокола,опроса.Отказалась,играла на публику — СОНАР (@sonar_russia) 24 октября 2016 г.

In Korolev, the ‘Golos’ coordinators reported numerous irregularities observed during the process of vote count. They explained the election officials were anxious to expel observers to conceal these facts. The video from the PEC No. 1053 supports these allegations. The commission claimed that they forgot to verify ballots with a second signature and therefore they tried to quickly correct this mistake by signing in the upper right corner of each ballot. However, handwriting even the smallest signature shall make the pen handle move; check yourself. In addition, in the video you could see that the ‘signatures’ were located in the upper third part of the ballot paper, where the party-list of ‘United Russia’ was positioned, rather than in the upper right corner, as in this case it would be enough to bend a corner of each ballot.

The CEC chairperson Ella Pamfilova expressed her disappointment regarding the Korolev court decisions. She reminded that CEC has addressed the issue of expulsions in this town to the Prosecutor General. The movement ‘Golos’ insists to refrain from postponing the consideration of this appeal.