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Russia

YouTube videos may show evidence of Russian election fraud

Disgruntled Russian voters have been sharing videos which purport to show extensive rigging in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

Updated, 12:57

ANGRY RUSSIAN VOTERS have begun sharing videos which may prove that election agents were complicit in extensive electoral fraud in last weekend’s parliamentary election.

The United Russia party led by Vladimir Putin emerged as the clear winner of Sunday’s election to the State Duma, though the party lost 15 per cent of its vote and has only just clung on to its parliamentary majority.

The election results have sparked protests across the country, with at least 250 people detained by police after demonstrations in downtown Moscow yesterday.

A further 200 people were arrested at a rally in St Petersburg, in the second consecutive night of demonstrations.

Both local and international observers in the elections reported ballot-stuffing – a claim which appears to be supported by the emergence of several videos which all lend weight to the theory that the election’s outcome was significantly altered.

Exhibit 1: This video uploaded by yupych shows that the pens supplied at some polling stations included erasable ink – which could be easily removed by anyone who wanted to:

Exhibit 2: TheLakost86, an agent for an opposition party, complains that the cardboard ballot boxes used in one station are not sealed – making it easy for anyone to stuff ballot papers.

Exhibit 3: A video uploaded by shilov2004 shows a ballot box with dozens of ballot papers already in the bottom. This would be completely acceptable… but for the fact that it’s 7:55am, and voting hasn’t opened yet.

He summons an election supervisor, who claims she cannot see anything in the box.

Elections chairman Vladimir Churov told Russian online newspaper Gazeta.ru that the videos posted to YouTube were “fake” – saying they showed “fake” election booths and polling stations.

“Even before voting day, I was aware of several fraudulent ‘election commissions’,” he said.

(h/t for the latter link to commenter angryzes)

Read: Protesters alleging election fraud clash with police in Moscow

Previously: Clashes as anti-Putin protestors take to streets in Moscow

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