Translated material
Democracy by coupons
The Central Election Commission checked the readiness of election commissions for elections
The final “reconciliation of clocks” before the single voting day on October 10 was carried out yesterday by the Central Election Commission. The heads of the regional commissions where large-scale expressions of will are taking place were given the latest valuable instructions and parting words via video link. Let us remind you that this Sunday there will be 7,900 elections of various levels in the country. Regional parliaments will be elected by residents of the Belgorod, Magadan, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Kostroma regions, as well as the Republic of Tuva. As Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Leonid Ivlev said in his report, the competition for deputy mandates is quite high - from 4.3 applicants for a seat in the Belgorod region to 10.3 in the Chelyabinsk region. In addition, elections at the municipal level will be held in a number of large administrative centers - Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Krasnodar, Orenburg, Rostov-on-Don and others.Election commissions across the country are on alert. As Leonid Ivlev emphasized, “all necessary election actions were carried out on time, the election campaign was financed in a timely manner, and ballots were produced.” 386 thousand absentee certificates were also printed for those who will not be able to express their will at their polling station on voting day. Of these, 35 thousand 963 certificates have been issued so far.
It is curious that almost three-quarters of all absentee ballots were printed in the Chelyabinsk region - 300 thousand pieces, while all other regions managed with much more modest circulations: from 1,500 in Magadan to 35 thousand in the Novosibirsk region. The leader of the A Just Russia party, Speaker of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov, in this regard, wrote a letter to the Central Election Commission, demanding to understand the situation. Leonid Ivlev explained to reporters that in the Chelyabinsk region there is indeed a need for absentee ballots. Firstly, there are 2.7 million registered voters here - more than in any other federal subject voting on October 10. Secondly, large iron and steel enterprises are concentrated in the region, such as the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works and the Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant, which operate around the clock. According to Mr. Ivlev, in the 2007 federal elections in the Chelyabinsk region, 56 thousand absentee ballots were used, in 2008 - 65 thousand. Nevertheless, the CEC, according to Mr. Ivlev, “very carefully dealt with” the complaint Sergei Mironov and eventually asked his Chelyabinsk colleagues to “adjust” the number of certificates. Excess coupons were transferred from lower-level election commissions for storage to the regional one, and so far 22 thousand 055 pieces have been handed out.
In total, the Central Election Commission has received 295 appeals and complaints to date. According to Mr. Ivlev, “only a few are confirmed.” The Moscow Region and Stavropol Territory lead in the number of complaints. Last week, the Central Election Commission already obliged local commissions to register two refusenik candidates from the Stavropol region. Yesterday, the commission similarly satisfied the complaints of three more candidates, of which two of the offended ones were again from the Stavropol region. But there are few complaints coming from the Novosibirsk region, although serious electoral passions are flaring up there: two weeks ago law enforcement agencies began seizing circulation of the A Just Russia campaign newspapers, and the Socialist-Revolutionaries themselves filed a lawsuit, demanding that their main competitor be removed from the elections - “ United Russia." The court accepted the claim and scheduled a hearing on the case, but for October 5. This automatically deprived the Socialist-Revolutionaries of even a shadow of hope of eliminating their competitors, since by law it is possible to remove an electoral association from elections no later than five days before voting day. Answering a question from a Vremya Novostey correspondent, Leonid Ivlev said that the court received the claim only on the night of October 5, local time, so it was impossible to consider it faster.
But the preparation for elections is not just about analyzing complaints. The leaders of the Central Election Commission gave their local colleagues specific instructions on organizational issues. “No lotteries, no children's competitions, no distribution of food packages! - Mr. Ivlev demanded, and metal was heard in his voice. - And no blackouts! I warn those who like to play around with a switch that there is an agreement on this matter with the Ministry of Emergency Situations - a backup power station will be delivered.”
The head of the department, Vladimir Churov, demanded that “information be transferred to the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor’s Office within 30 minutes for each case of a power outage.” And Leonid Ivlev personally reminded the election commission of the Republic of Tuva that there was already snow on the passes in the mountains, and demanded that summer tires on cars be replaced with winter ones.
Also in the building of the Central Election Commission, the central point of the “Hotline” for communication with voters began operating. This is a traditional phenomenon. But this year it was joined by another technological innovation - the Civil Control Association offers citizens an SMS and mms service under the loud slogan “Code of Truth.” Anyone can send an SMS with a complaint or even a message in mms format with a video or photo to the number +7-903-76-76-999. The organizers undertake to verify the information and call those responsible to order. As stated by the executive director of Civil Control, Georgy Fedorov, about 100-200 SMS messages from all over the country were collected using this system in previous regional campaigns. This time the organizers hope for greater success among the general public.