Russia is a country in which the population has no respect for the political system, their rulers, or the distribution of property.

GOLOS Association has sent letters to Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Russian Federation Vladimir Churov and to Minister of Communications and Mass Media (Ministry) Igor Shchegolev. In these letters, GOLOS Executive Director Lilia Shibanova requested disclosures from Churov and Shchegolev of the plans of the CEC and the Ministry respectively with regard to the future use of web cameras in Russian elections. If it is the case that web cameras will no longer be used in all subsequent elections, Shibanova has requested an explanation of the reasons for such.

The legislation on gubernatorial elections passed on its second reading. And its concept has finally been made clear.

Elections for the city of Zlatoust in the Chelyabinsk oblast will be held on 20 May. Seven candidates will be running for the post of the head of the city. By some estimates, the electoral campaign has been held under the conditions of severe administrative pressure, and fraud on behalf of one of the candidates is expected.

Vladimir Evgenievich Churov, who lives in a parallel reality containing the most honest and transparent elections, has apparently managed to spread some of his fanatical beliefs to our country’s prime minister and president-elect. In the wake of December’s fright, the prime minister effortlessly came up with 13 billion rubles from the state budget (supplemented, according to the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber, with another 12 billion rubles from the same pot) and ordered the installation of two to three web cameras in each polling station in order to record and broadcast all Election Day occurrences.

The political reform proposed by President Dmitry Medvedev and practically adopted by the State Duma has once again distracted our country from resolving major political issues in order to return Russia to the path toward civilized European democracy.

It is well known that the planet Neptune was discovered without a telescope, by way of calculations. Official published protocol statistics from all Precinct Electoral Commissions (PEC)—and even from all elections—provide a remarkable opportunity to assess the honesty and fairness of voting and counting processes without even requiring one to leave the house. Of course we are not dealing with Newton’s laws of motion here: there are no strict and conclusive variables. Certain things can, however, be seen with surprising regularity; or with high probability, if you prefer. This has become clear due to the correspondence of findings reported from the field (calls to the hotline, judicial complaints, court decisions, etc.) and the statistical analysis reported on such information.

I participated today in public hearings on the elections in Syktyvkar. I referred to the hearing as a form of citizen self-defense against the state, which cannot seem to guarantee the electoral rights of its citizens. Another such form has now manifested itself in Astrakhan, and prior to that, in the cities of Lermontov, Yaroslavl (1 April,) and Moscow (4 March.) Clearly, none of these have been among the most radical forms of self-defense. And they have not been instigated by the US State Department, but by the Russian administration. They have been reactions not only to the actions of the electoral commissions, but to the lack of action by the bodies that are meant to protect electoral rights, including the courts, where the president, president-elect, and lower-level state officials are so fond of sending us.

In order to resolve the political crisis in Astrakhan by way of a recall, A Just Russia representatives will need to prove in court that serious violations were committed in 51 of the city’s 203 polling stations during the course of the mayoral elections. According to GOLOS Association Deputy Executive Director Grigory Melkonyants, there is another solution to ending the crisis: early elections could be called upon the resignation of current Mayor Mikhail Stolyarov.

GOLOS Association’s Deputy Executive Director Grigory Melkonyants discusses the events in southern Russia

The Astrakhan hunger strike has persevered since 16 March. The purpose of the action is to draw attention to acts of fraud involved in the 4 March municipal elections. Former mayoral candidate and trade union leader Oleg Shein is among the participants. The impetus for the hunger strike is a desire to protest cases of impropriety in the Oblast Electoral Commission, where activists tried to submit video evidence of numerous electoral violations

The leader of the project to establish the Electoral Code of the Russian Federation has provided commentary regarding the situation with the passage of the draft Electoral Code in the State Duma.

The State Duma is preparing to adopt the second reading of the bill on the return of gubernatorial elections. The process of discussing the amendments to the text, the first reading of which was adopted in extremely general terms on 28 February, is in full swing. It is officially referred to as, “On Amending the Federal Law ‘On General Principals of the Organization of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies of State Authority of the Subjects of the Russian Federation.’"

On 15 December 2011, during “Direct Line,” Vladimir Putin proposed the installation of web cameras in polling stations. Within two weeks, by 30 December, the prime minister had already prepared instructions, according to which 13 billion rubles had been allocated for the installation of cameras. The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media (MCMM), Rostelecom, and other contractors began implementation of the project and—it needs to be said—managed the broadcast on 4 March fairly well, expanding the control center chambers at Red October. But the officials would not be Russian officials if they and this project had not once again complicated our lives.