Did Putin use electronic voting to rig the Duma elections?

NSOn Monday afternoon, many Russians viewed the so-called electronic voting as an opportunity to win or a source of curiosity. The capital, Moscow, was one of a total of seven regions in Russia and Ukraine’s Crimea, where voters vote from Friday to Sunday online. always, board of the Public. A lottery was held to get Muscovites to register for electronic voting. Of all the people, Dmitry Pesko, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, was determined as the winner with the equivalent of 117 euros, which he could spend in supermarkets or a fast food restaurant.

A video released by the Kremlin, supposedly showing how Putin, an Internet skeptic (“CIA project”), voted online last Friday, allegedly caused amusement. Pesco had to explain how Putin, who declared that he did not have a mobile phone, received the SMS code he needed to vote: the president used an assistant device. It was also noted that Putin’s wristwatch in the electronic voting video displayed the date September 10, so the recording may have been a pre-made “box”.

Corrective meaning of the Kremlin

But in fact, it has always been clear that e-voting has been an important tool in the toolkit of those in power for elections. Despite the exclusion of dozens of hateful candidates under various pretexts, despite the continuous support of the state and its media for the party’s candidates. United Russia Strength Party There were a number of applicants with the best prospects of becoming uncomfortable deputies in the State Duma. Even in Moscow. But it is precisely there that electronic voting has already proven itself corrective in the Kremlin’s sense: in the 2019 city council elections, alleged online results pushed opposition candidate Roman Günemann, who was ahead after counting votes in the polls for the victory of his district.

Excellent choice

Get F + for 3 months for 1 euro per week and read all articles on FAZ.NET.

Read F + now

Golos independent election observers (voting) have explained the dangers of electronic voting so that someone other than the authorized person casts the vote, that someone supervises the vote and puts pressure on the vote so that the vote is not counted correctly. Gunman – who is now barred from running for the State Duma – described electronic voting as a new form of “administrative resource” for those in power. According to official figures, the number of voters who would have registered to vote online was more than two million in Moscow alone – a huge number. Officially, more than 96 percent of them should have participated in the elections.