Specific numbers

Novaya Gazeta publishes leaked recording of ‘secret training’ for poll workers in a city near Moscow

The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta obtained an audio recording that allegedly reveals poll workers in Korolyov, a city outside Moscow, being trained to rig the vote ahead of the State Duma elections. The woman heard on the tape is believed to be Zhanna Prokofieva, an advisor to the mayor of Korolyov. Speaking at a meeting with local election commission leaders, the “supervisor” heard on the recording tasks poll workers with providing United Russia with 42–45 percent of the vote, and explains to them how to falsify the voting results. Novaya Gazeta sent the leaked recording to Russia’s Central Election Commission on September 2, along with an official request for comment. Meduza summarizes the audio recording here.

There was a big request from the city authorities — to do everything possible so that it all goes smoothly, without comments and complaints. We don’t want to have to justify ourselves, testify, or talk to prosecutors. We are interested in a specific number and a specific party: 42–45 percent according to the party list. I hope that they don’t have enough strength to catch us. With the observers from the LDPR we’re alright, we aren’t worried about the Party of Growth, and everything should be fine with the Communists — whatever they may be, they’re ours, locals, and they’re not pro-American. We have to make sure that there’s only our people at the polling station, no one else. If you do everything correctly, then even smart, stupid, or any other kind of voting won’t work. We make two lists of those who vote — one for the voters and another for the election monitors. I advise you to start preparing the list that you’ll hand in ahead of time — after all, there’s quite a lot to fill out, at 45 percent. When the last voter has left, those who sat with the voter lists during the voting will continue to sit there and work on them. And you’ll sit there until the time comes to replace them. You’ll sit until the cows come home!

This is an approximate summary of the transcript of the recording published by Novaya Gazeta. All of the quotes above aren’t necessarily verbatim. You can read the full transcript in Russian and listen to clips of the leaked audio here.

Cover photo: Natalya Kolesnikova / AFP / Scanpix / LETA