Candidates trade rigging accusations as polls in Russia’s Far East almost end in a draw
Election officials in Primorsky Krai Region are checking complaints by candidates of violations in the run-off gubernatorial polls after a preliminary count gave victory to the incumbent governor by an extremely narrow margin.
Preliminary results show that the Communist candidate, Andrey Ishchenko, lost to the incumbent governor Andrey Tarasenko by only around half a point – 49.55 percent against 48.06 percent.
This tentative result was unexpected, as Tasarenko garnered almost twice as many votes as Ishchenko in the first round of elections. It was even more striking as the Communist challenger appeared to be leading the run-off race throughout the day, and only started to lose the advantage in the closing phases.
The secretary of the regional elections commission told reporters that the final result of the run-off elections would be announced before September 22. The head of the federal Central Elections Commission, Ella Pamfilova, told RIA Novosti that she was not excluding the possibility that the results of Sunday’s polls could be canceled in some districts or even in the region as a whole, if complaints of violations prove to be true.
Complaints of rigging and manipulation were made by both sides. Ishchenko accused his opponent of rewriting voting protocols in four major cities in the region: Vladivostok, Nakhodka, Ussuriysk and Artyom. A representative of Tarasenko’s election HQ retaliated with similar accusations, telling reporters that monitors had reportedly registered violations in favor of the Communist candidate in Vladivostok and Ussuriysk. The violations allegedly included attempts to bribe voters and obstruct the ballot count.
Ishchenko went on hunger strike on Monday in protest against the alleged voter fraud.
The Local Public Chamber said that the rigging accusations came a surprise to them, as they had registered no such violations in the run-off polls.
An exit poll conducted by the Expert Group think tank also indicated victory for Tarasenko by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent.
In the first round of elections that was held on September 9, incumbent governor Andrey Tarasenko got almost double the number of votes accrued by the Communist contender – 46.57 percent to 24.64 percent. However, as none of the candidates got over 50 percent of vote, the run-off election was announced.
In the latest regional parliamentary elections, the United Russia Party took a clear lead by beating its closest competitors, the Communists, by almost 20 percent in the party ticket voting. United Russia's lead in the single-mandate constituencies was even more impressive, as its candidates won in 14 districts, while the Communists gained majority support in just three.
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