Found the culprit

“No one forced St. Petersburg teachers to take absentee certificates from the TECs at their place of residence and then hand them in somewhere,” said the governor of the northern capital, Georgy Poltavchenko, on February 2 following the results of an official investigation. — The instructions contained in a letter from one of the district officials to school principals are her “own initiative” and “abuse of official authority.” During an inspection in the area, the author of the scandalous mailing was fired. And in St. Petersburg, at the request of Georgy Poltavchenko to the city prosecutor Sergei Litvinenko, on February 3, a prosecutor's investigation was launched: to whom and why did teachers hand over absentee certificates?

The shackles that Novaya talked about (see No. 6 of January 31, 2012) broke at the end of January. It turned out that in at least one, the Vasileostrovsky district of the city, teachers are forced to urgently receive absentee certificates and bring them to the territorial department of education. One of the teachers posted on LiveJournal a letter sent on January 17 to the directors of all district schools from the work email account of the deputy head of the education department of the district administration, Natalia Krasnova (the screenshot is in the editorial office):
“Dear leaders! All employees not registered on Vasilyevsky Island must receive an absentee ballot from the TEC of their district from January 18 to January 21 (the list is attached) and return it to you. On Monday, January 23, submit the list of the above employees in paper and electronic form, along with absentee ballots, to the education department.”
In addition to the editors of Novaya Gazeta, a copy of the document, as well as oral information from teachers, came into the possession of Alexei Kovalev, a deputy of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly. On January 26, he sent a request on this matter to the city governor. On January 27, by order of Smolny, an official investigation began in the area. On February 2, the mayor reported its results to the parliamentarian and Novaya Gazeta.
On the same day, Georgy Poltavchenko turned to St. Petersburg prosecutor Sergei Litvinenko and asked to verify the facts stated in the deputy’s request. As the City Prosecutor's Office told Novaya, the governor's letter has been received. The completion date of the review is still unknown.
Let us emphasize: Poltavchenko insists that the city authorities did not give instructions to teachers (in any district of the city!) to receive absentee certificates from TECs, much less to transfer them from hand to hand.
“But,” notes Georgy Sergeevich, “many teachers work on election day—they are members of precinct election commissions.” Therefore, they were asked to obtain absentee ballots in order to be able to vote without leaving their workplace.
Meanwhile, the governor did not answer why ALL teachers needed to receive absentee certificates (everyone’s personal decision whether to go to the polls or not at all) and in such a fire mode. Why, in violation of the law, were absentee ballots required to be handed over to the district administration? For what? For what purpose?
Previously, Novaya asked all these questions to the chairman of the St. Petersburg Education Committee, Olga Ivanova. The official redirected them to the area. On February 3, Novaya received a response from the district administration:
“The management of the education department did not give any instructions regarding the mandatory receipt of absentee ballots by employees of subordinate institutions,” Deputy Head of Administration Ivetta Belova commented to Novaya. — At the same time, employees working in precinct election commissions were asked to take absentee ballots in order to be able to vote without leaving their workplace. At the same time, the leaders took into account that the absence of a PEC member for 2–3 hours (about the same time it would take to vote in another district) would negatively affect the work of the commission. However, this could only be a proposal, and not a binding instruction. Natalia Vladimirovna Krasnova, on her own initiative, wrote and sent a letter that was not agreed upon with management, thus exceeding her official authority. The text of the letter is incorrect and misleading to the heads of preschool institutions. The administration apologizes for the unprofessional actions of the education department employee. During the inspection, Krasnova was fired.
The department of education of the Vasileostrovsky district confirmed to Novaya: on February 1, Natalia Krasnova submitted a letter of resignation of her own free will. The head of the district, Vladimir Omelnitsky, satisfied him on the same day.

Nina PETLYANOVA