Presidential election in Russia: Putin re-elected with 22 million falsified ballots, NGOs condemned

According to Golos, Vladimir Putin’s coronation on Sunday was marred by irregularities.

This NGO ensured that around 22 million ballots were falsified in favor of the President.

If electronic votes are counted, the figure rises to around 32 million.

“This is the most rigged presidential election in the country’s history.” Newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the main opposition media in Russia, condemned the conditions in which Vladimir Putin won a surprise election this Sunday. According to Golos, an NGO specializing in the protection of voters’ rights, fewer than 22 million false ballots were counted to allow the Kremlin master to be re-elected for a fifth term.

Officially, the Russian president collected more than 87% of the vote, or 10 points more than in 2018, for a flirting participation rate of 77%. A result that does not reflect reality, according to Novaya Gazeta. To overcome the extent of the deception, the media used a method devised by mathematician Sergei Shpilkin. The objective? Establish a vote estimate “irregular” During the election.

The results of each polling station were analyzed

Specifically, the method compares the distribution of votes for the various candidates running—in this case four—with the participation rate at each polling station. This helps to highlight how many votes were added to the winner, by filling the ballot boxes or changing the final score.

In a fair election, the distribution of votes for the leading candidate and his opponents is the same and differs only in absolute value due to the different number of votes cast. However, stuffing ballot boxes for one candidate increases the turnout rate and affects the proportion of votes allocated to each candidate.

As of Sunday, journalists and Golos members have retrieved 97% of the votes processed by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). The total number of voters, including those who voted online, was 74.5 million. According to the CEC, 64.7 million of them voted for Putin.

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At the end of their research, they noted that about 22 million votes were irregular. Low range, the count considers only paper ballots. Including electronic voting, can commit fraud, depending on Novaya GazetaAbout 31.6 million votes.