NGOs cannot send observers to elections

The CEC proposes to label observers associated with organizations recognized as “foreign agents”. CEC member Igor Borisov said this during a meeting of the commission, informs IA “Law”.

“It is quite acceptable that we will not prohibit the appointment of such [связанных с „иноагентами“] observers, but mark them accordingly, ”Borisov said.

The head of the election monitoring department of the Golos movement, Andrei Buzin, explained to The Insider that, according to the law, public organizations do not have the right to send observers to elections, so it is not clear which observers Borisov could have in mind. “A public organization has no right to send observers to the elections of deputies of the State Duma. In some municipal elections and regional elections, but there are few such subjects, about a quarter, there is an opportunity to send observers from public organizations, but there should also be public organizations of the appropriate level. And they are unlikely to guide, ”said Buzin.

In July, the CEC published a new procedure for video surveillance at polling stations, according to which citizens will not be able to watch video from surveillance cameras, since only “participants in the political process” will have access to a single open portal for observing the voting.

Video surveillance at the September elections to the State Duma will cover about 50 thousand polling stations where more than 80% of voters vote, the Election Commission said. The broadcasts will be conducted on the service portal, which, according to the CEC, will be accessible to the central, regional, territorial and precinct election commissions, as well as observation centers, political parties and candidates.

At the same time, it is specified that the candidate will be able to watch the broadcast from the polling stations only from the constituency where he is running. In addition, observation centers will be created in the regions, where representatives of all parties will be invited.

In July 2020, independent observers and members of the Golos movement statedthat they have not seen such a high level of falsifications, which was observed in the all-Russian vote on amendments to the Constitution, since 2011. You can read about how ballots were thrown in, falsified lists and drawn voices from the faces of non-existent citizens in The Insider collection. “Not your voice, not your Constitution. 5 examples of election fraud caught on video “.