Arkhangelsk election fraud comes to surface
The ongoing court case against the Arkhangelsk City Election Commission gives clear indications that the commission falsified the results from the recent city mayor’s election.
The scandal election of May 25 was yet another evidence of the unstable democracy of the Northwest Russian region.
The commission first declared opposition candidate Larisa Bazanova the winner of the elections with a slim 70 vote margin ahead of acting city mayor Viktor Pavlenko. Mr. Pavlenko however demanded a recount, the results of which showed that the winner was himself, and not Ms Bazanova.
Viktor Pavlenko is heavily backed by regional Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk. Tatiana Bazanova on the other hand is a close ally of the dismissed and controversial ex-mayor Aleksandr Donskoy.
Falsification
Ms Bazanova was confident that the recount of votes was manipulated by the election commission and quickly sued the commission. The first day of the court hearings took place on 9 May and showed that the Election Commission had no reason to dispute the original election results.
The election observers questioned practically all underlined that Ms Bazanova was the winner in their respective ballot station. Quite remarkably, the court had not invited any representative of the commissions at the ballot stations.
Evidence
News site Rusnord.ru has however approached the leaders of the ballot stations, all people with extensive experiences from former elections. They all underline that the original results could under no circumstances have been incorrect. As noted by Rusnord, the votes on the respective station were on May 25 counted a minimum of three times in the close presence of election observers. The people counting the votes did not have any pens or pencils available, which could have made them able to manipulate election documents.
The leaders of the polling stations underline that an incorrect counting of the casted votes could not have taken place and call the recount approved by the city election commission a “provocation”.
In the court hearing, several testimonies confirmed that the ballot boxes of the recount on May 29 were not identical with the ballot boxes of May 25.
Unstable democracy
The apparently falsified election results is a major blow to the political establishment of Arkhangelsk. The court case gives clear indications that the recount of votes was manipulated by the city election commission. Who were the masterminds behind the rigged elections remains to be seen.
However, there can be no doubt that the elections have seriously discredited the power of both Viktor Pavlenko and Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk.
Read also:
Election fraud puts governor in weakened position 4 August 2008
Protest rally in Arkhangelsk 25 June 2008
Election loser appeals to President 3 June 2008
New election results in Arkhangelsk 29 June 2008
