The Russian presidential election is being overshadowed by accusations of democracy. International election observers from countries such as Belarus, North Korea, Iran and China claim to have noticed numerous regularities that raise the question of whether Russia is still a functioning one-party dictatorship.
The election observers said the fact that election winner Vladimir Putin only received a ridiculous 87.34 percent of all votes cast was particularly frightening.
“A president who is not elected by at least 98 percent of all citizens is not a reliable partner in our eyes,” confirms election observer Chun Zhang from China. “The fact that opposition politicians like Nikolay Kharitonov were able to achieve strong results of over 4 percent also raises doubts about the effectiveness of Russian election fraud, which was apparently only carried out properly in nine out of ten polling stations.”
While the elections in rural areas, where Putin supporters were transported in buses from polling station to polling station to vote again and again, were largely normal, election observers in urban areas noted numerous regularities.
“In some districts, only the votes actually cast were counted,” explained Belarusian election observer Mikhail Neszjarenka. “Something like this would never happen in my home country.” It has also been noted that in some places protest actions by opposition members are rather half-heartedly suppressed.
Russia’s top electoral authority has since admitted that there may have been irregularities and promised to hold those responsible accountable and subsequently falsify the results.
