The number of polling stations for the Moscow mayoral elections will be reduced by almost 40%. This is probably how Muscovites are getting used to electronic voting - Meduza

The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that in the Moscow mayoral elections in September 2023, instead of 3,428 polling stations, only 2,058 will work, which is almost 40% less than before. The CEC explains this formation of polling stations with “more comfortable conditions for voting and the work of observers and media representatives,” reducing costs and reducing the burden on city services and educational institutions. In other regions, the number of sites will also decrease, but not as significantly as in Moscow.

An unnamed Meduza interlocutor who is close to the Kremlin’s political bloc believes that the authorities intend to “increase” remote electronic voting (DEV): “When the share of DEG grows, they will say: on the one hand, they correctly reduced it, since everyone votes online, on the other — the increased attendance at the DEG can be explained by the reduction.” Another interlocutor of the publication, a political strategist, notes that the reduction of polling stations will bring down the offline turnout by about 25%.

Political technologists say: DEG "provides practically unlimited opportunities for falsification", and this option is beneficial for the authorities. “In the mayoral elections, you need to show a decent turnout, but if you start to drive everyone to the polling stations, then the people will no longer go to the presidential elections, and there are tasks for a record turnout. To show turnout at the expense of the DEG in presidential elections is bad manners; at the mayor’s offices, it’s quite possible,” says Meduza’s interlocutor.

Election monitoring expert, ex-co-chairman of the Golos movement, Andrey Buzin, calls the DEG a "fundamentally uncontrolled method of voting." He believes that by reducing the number of polling stations, it will be easier for the authorities to form loyal election commissions.

Sources: CEC , Meduza

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