Belgorod Governor Evgeny Savchenko found an unconventional way to reach voters

The communists of the Belgorod region demanded that the regional election commission check the actions of Governor Yevgeny Savchenko. The reason for the appeal was pension receipts sent throughout the region, on the back of which was printed an appeal from the head of the region to “dear dads, moms, grandparents” with a request to vote for “United Russia” (elections will take place next Sunday). The election commission, however, does not see any violations, citing the fact that the leaflet was paid for from the official election fund of the party in power.

Copies of the receipt to Kommersant were provided by the first secretary of the Belgorod regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Valery Shevlyakov. He said the paper had been distributed "throughout the region" over the past week. On the front side of the document there is a regular receipt in which the recipient is informed about the amount of his pension. And on the back is an appeal signed by Governor Yevgeny Savchenko to “our dear fathers, mothers, grandparents.” In the message, he reports that “very soon” an “important event” will take place in the region, namely elections to the regional Duma. Mr. Savchenko further thanks the residents of the region for their “love for our small homeland” and asks to “come to the polls and vote” for United Russia. The governor heads the regional list of the party in power. “This is the most blatant violation of the current campaign. We sent copies of these appeals to the regional election commission, let them look into it,” said Valery Shevlyakov.

The election headquarters of the Belgorod United Russia could not comment on the situation yesterday, since “the entire leadership is at meetings and will not show up until the end of the day.” However, the regional election commission has already stood up for the governor’s letters. “According to my information, these receipts were indeed distributed. But there is nothing illegal in Savchenko’s appeal. It was officially paid for from the United Russia election fund under an agreement with the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Post,” commission head Nikolai Pletnev told Kommersant.

The curator of the Belgorod campaign of A Just Russia, Vladimir Myasin, called the letters a “characteristic example” of the actions of the headquarters of the party in power during the current campaign. “They are pushing for mass campaigning with a minimum of creativity and a total purging of competitors’ propaganda. The most likely goal of such a campaign is to arouse voters’ aversion to the elections, so that only state employees and pensioners who will support United Russia come to the polling stations. In addition, low turnout is excellent will provide “freedom of action” for election commissions,” he believes.

Let us note that representatives of all parties participating in the campaign find violations in the campaigning of their competitors. Representatives of the LDPR, for example, complain about United Russia for placing their symbols at road work sites that are being carried out “on the initiative” of the party in power. United Russia, in turn, sees violations by the LDPR, who are distributing propaganda materials prepared for the 2007 State Duma election campaign. At the LDPR headquarters, the situation is explained by an acute shortage of new visual propaganda.

Political strategist Alexander Kosyrev called United Russia's move "competent, but not obligatory." “In the socially prosperous Belgorod region, even without such appeals, they will gain more than the goal they themselves named. Maybe they just want to stand out in front of the feds and receive a percentage significantly higher than this goal. Savchenko is a truly authoritative person in the region, this letter will add support to the party in power,” - he thinks.

Let us recall that in February 2010, during the campaign for the mayoral elections in Orel, the head of the region, Alexander Kozlov, sent out “Valentines” to residents of the city asking them to vote for the candidate from United Russia, Viktor Safyanov. The action then caused indignation of the opposition, but, according to political strategists, it significantly helped Mr. Safyanov win.

Vsevolod Inyutin, Belgorod

Pension calls for elections