Putin in the role of Santa Claus

In the “elections without intrigue”, observers record hundreds of disorders and the activity of the admin resource. A feature of agitation for Putin is the use of children

The leadership of the school in the district center of Izberdeevo posted on the Internet campaign videos with the participation of schoolchildren screenshot with video Youtube.com

According to The New Times in the Voice movement, since the beginning of the presidential campaign, only this group of observers recorded more than 200 violations of electoral legislation. They are mainly traditional - almost every iron talk about the current president. But in some regions they approached Putin's illegal praise with imagination.

Children for Putin

The scandal characteristic of the 2018 campaign occurred in the Tambov region. The leadership of the school in the district center of Izberdeevo posted on the Internet campaign videos with the participation of schoolchildren. Children stand with sheets of paper on which #Russia is written, and speak out in support of the indicated character. All videos last from 7 to 13 seconds. “All our lives we know only one leader - Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. This is our president, ”says one of the schoolgirls in the video.

On January 22, after this initiative was discovered by activists of the Voice, the recordings were promptly deleted. The school itself reported that the order to record videos with the participation of children came from above, but from where exactly, they did not specify. “We were recommended to do this and put it out. But there is no agitation there. They simply expressed their opinion that they love Putin. Who doesn't love him? But believe me that this is not our initiative, not school, ”Natalya Panova, deputy director of the school, told Rain.

The same hashtag #Russiansuenputin is used in his posts by local governor Andrei Nikitin and other officials. According to the Voice Violations, the agitation for Putin is also carried out in the accounts of the district administrations of the Tambov region.

Children's love for the president began to be used in the campaign on the eve of the New Year. United Russia at the end of December posted an advertising video on the network in which a little girl makes Santa Claus a desire: that Putin is chosen for a new term. Santa Claus did not directly promise anything to the girl, noting only that he received a lot of such requests. There were no violations of election campaign in the video, but at the request of the CEC it was still removed.

Plebiscite in "neighboring rooms"

They decided to attract students to the campaign in the capital even more original. The Moscow authorities intend to hold school referendums simultaneously with the presidential election (the benefit of polling stations are mainly in schools). Parents and schoolchildren who have reached the age of 14 will be offered to speak out on school life-about the form, class schedule, etc. The results of the referendum, however, will not have legal force.

The Mosgorisbirk and the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, supported the idea of referendums, but the chairman of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova suddenly opposed. “I categorically declare that in any election areas there are no additional actions, surveys, referendums in principle,” the head of the electoral department said strictly.

They will ask officials for the turnout, so they did not refuse their idea. The Mosgorisburkom immediately stated that school referendums can be carried out not directly in the voting sites, but in neighboring rooms. And the Pampilova power no longer extends to the neighboring premises

Pamfilov can be understood: from her in the Kremlin they will not be asked for a turnout, but for the formal cleanliness of the procedure and a minimum of scandals. Therefore, she does not need any additional activity on areas on the day of voting, fraught with confusion, confused by ballots, etc. But they will ask officials just for the turnout, so they did not refuse their idea. The Mosgorisburkom immediately stated that school referendums can be carried out not directly in the voting sites, but in neighboring rooms. And Pampilova’s power no longer applies to neighboring premises.

Stations for one

The use of an administrative resource is traditionally the most common violation, NT was told in the “voice”. Throughout January, with its help, signatures were collected. Putin’s election headquarters canceled signatures in his support, which were collected in two regime plants in the Kurgan region. As the headquarters of the headquarters Andrei Kardashov explained to reporters, the leadership of the factories “without consulting the headquarters, its regional branch grossly violated the law and raised signatures at the enterprise during working hours”.

The law says that candidates must have equal opportunities. “If the owner provided the premises to one of the candidates, then under the same conditions he must provide the premises to other candidates. Signatures in support of Putin are collected at stations and in shopping centers , but not everyone is provided with the ability to collect signatures in the shopping center, ”Vitaly Averin, coordinator of the network of regional Vitaly Averin movement, told NT.

As Ksenia Sobchak Lucy Stein told NT, their collectors were launched to the Belarusian station only after a “conversation”, and from Vnukovo Airport they expelled without any conversation at all without any conversations

Thus, the organization "Victory Volunteers" opened the collection points in support of Putin at the Belarusian and Kazan stations, as well as at Vnukovo Airport. At the same time, as the coordinator of the Moscow headquarters of Ksenia Sobchak Lucy Stein told NT, their collectors were launched to the Belorussky station only after the “conversation”, and from the Vnukovo Airport they were expelled without any conversations.

Signatures in support of Putin are collected at stations and in shopping centers photo: Marta Radishchev **

A look from the screen

From excessive diligence in the field, posters with the image of Putin began to appear even before he officially nominated his candidacy. So, in Yekaterinburg, a billboard with a Putin's face, the election logo and the slogan “One Country - One President” appeared in December. The local "United Russia" and the ONF from this agitmaterial disowned. When representatives of the regional election commission left for its detection, there was no longer a poster. However, four other Putin billboards placed before its official nomination continued to hang in the city. The Oblazbirk did not see anything reprehensible in them. But here the local antitrust service unexpectedly intervened - although it should not monitor the electoral process, antitrust, unlike the electoral department, saw a violation of the principles of honest competition. And they issued an order to the local authorities to remove Putin’s campaign until January 26th.

Trinachniki is also trying. As of January 17, the “Voice” counted 55 television , unambiguously containing illegal agitation. “There is no massive violation, but there are things that really alarm us, which we need to pay attention to,” Pamfilova said after watching the plots presented by the Voice movement.

According to the co -chair of the Voice Andrei Buzin, at the moment illegal campaigning in the media is the main violation during the election campaign.

He suggests that in the current elections much less direct falsifications will be recorded than the previous ones. But many violations related to the use of an administrative resource are expected. “This is massive agitation under the guise of informing without payment from the electoral fund, the impact of police officers on agitators, implicit campaigning by bypassing voters (the database is located directly at the administration), and the clearance of surfaces from unwanted agitation,” the expert says.