A journalist from the Dovod agency in Vladimir was not allowed to enter the polling station

Natalya Baranova, a correspondent for the Dovod news agency, was not allowed into the polling station in Vladimir, where elections to the Council of People's Deputies are being held. “Dovod” itself reports this on its website.

The agency's correspondent arrived at PEC No. 394, located on Paris Commune Street, at the time of its opening. The journalist introduced herself and showed her documents, but the chairman of the election commission said that Baranova should leave the polling station. The reason was allegedly that the agency was not accredited in advance.

To this, the correspondent replied that she had the right to attend the elections as a journalist, and accreditation was needed only if she wanted to stay to observe the counting of votes. Despite this, the chairman of the commission still did not let her in. An advisory member of the territorial election commission, Danila Belyakov, tried to change the situation, but the journalist was still not allowed in. He filed a complaint with the regional TEC.

The editor-in-chief of Dovod, Ilya Kosygin, who is also running in these elections, said on Twitter that the publication’s journalists are not allowed into many polling stations. According to information received from observers, all chairmen of Vladimir precinct election commissions were prohibited from admitting Dovod journalists, as the publication had recently been searched.

• On April 26, 2017, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office recognized a number of organizations associated with Mikhail Khodorkovsky as undesirable. The list includes OR Otkrytaya Rossia, Open Russia Civic Movement, Open Russia and Institute of Modern Russia, Inc, registered in the UK, registered in the USA. Russian authorities believe that the Open Russia movement is related to these legal entities, and therefore is also an undesirable organization on the territory of the Russian Federation.
• Publishers of the Dovod news agency Ilya Kosygin and Kirill Ishutin are running for election to the Council of People's Deputies of Vladimir.
• On September 9, searches were carried out across the country at members of the United Democrats project and other places associated with independent candidates in the September elections. The search also took place in the editorial office of the Dovod publication, which is located in the office of the United Democrats in Vladimir.