Russia opens first probe into alleged poll fraud
December 16th, 2011 - 7:07 pm ICT by IANSMoscow, Dec 16 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia Friday started its first probe into allegations of electoral fraud during the Dec 4 parliamentary elections, investigators said.
The probe was launched in the southern city of Krasnodar into allegations of ballot stuffing at a polling station.
The elections were marred by multiple allegations of fraud in favour of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.
The probe was launched after a complaint by a Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) candidate who said he had seen almost 100 ballots “folded up, as if they had been placed there simultaneously” when the ballot box was opened. He said all the ballot papers were marked for United Russia.
Independent election monitoring organisation Golos said it has logged more than 7,000 cases of fraud during the polls.
International observers from the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported “flagrant procedural violations” and “several serious indications of ballot box stuffing”.
Putin Thursday dismissed the allegations but said in a televised session that web cameras should be installed at polling stations ahead of the March presidential elections.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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Tags: allegations, ballot box, ballot papers, ballots, council of europe, electoral fraud, golos, independent election, international observers, krasnodar, ldpr, liberal democratic party, parliamentary elections, polling station, polling stations, presidential elections, procedural violations, ria novosti russia, vladimir putin, web cameras