During the parliamentary election in 1999 I played the role of an observer at one of the Moscow poll stations located in the district where Valeri Borshchev was a candidate for Duma deputy.
Valeri Borschev had for many years been a dedicated representative
of the human rights movement in the Duma. He demonstrated his position
on human rights on many occasions and represented the interests of his
constituents with full commitment. His opponent in the elections in the
district was V. Ryazanski, the "Izmailovo" hotel director, supported by
Luzhkov - the mayor of Moscow.
Moscow, Veshnyaki, 1219 polling station located in the school building at 4/2 Snayperskaya.
December 19, 1999, 12.30p.m.
I arrived at the polling station and after half an hour was registered
as an observer representing the Borshchev party, receiving the ID number
2. For whatever reason, it was an ID for "a member of election committee
entitled to provide consultation/advice".
Apart from me, there were three more observers: a young man from the Zhirinovski's party wearing a black jacket, a cheerful bearded guy representing Gerasimov (who stood for election in the one-representative district) and an elderly lady from the communist party (KPRF). Among the poll workers, there was only one representative of "Yabloko". All the other workers besides him were teachers working at the school.
2p.m.
I told the head of the polling station I wanted to accompany the
poll workers to private homes for voting at home for those who cannot get
to the poll on their own. We, that is two poll workers, the LDRP (Zhirinovski's)
observer and I left at 3.45p.m. taking a portable ballot box with us. 20
requests for voting at home were registered by the time we left. Then,
when we were visiting the people at their homes, we phoned the poll and
learned that two more places had been added in the meantime (according
to the law, it is only permitted to request voting at home before 4p.m.).
8.10 p.m.
We came back to our polling station but did not have enough time
to go to two homes. It's an infringement of the rules, obviously, but not
that significant that it could affect the ballot. The polls were already
closed and the voting was over. I helped to carry the ballot boxes to the
room where the votes were to be counted. According to the regulations,
first the unused ballot slips were canceled, then the ballot box for the
preliminary ballot was opened, then the portable box, and finally the three
regular ballot boxes used during the day. There were many people registered
in the area served by our poll (about 2300 people) and the turnout was
quite high (nearly 70%). When we were visiting the private homes, the communist
party lady left, and was replaced by a silent man from the Borodin's party
(a candidate for the mayor). It seemed that there was nothing illegal about
vote counting. Everything was going fine, which made me think the poll
worked well and that I would report approvingly on their work. Most of
the time I was watching them count the ballots for one-representative district.
I did not do any counting myself as I had no right to do so according to
the law. There were three principal piles of ballot papers: those for Borshchev,
those for Ryazanski (the one supported by Luzhkov), and those for other
candidates. All the other candidates were far behind.
Night 19/20 December.
The head of poll workers says he is not going to show me the report
on voting results, but "first he will go and check it with the district
electoral commission". This is obviously illegal and produces various opportunities
for fraud. The communist party observer from the neighboring poll tries
to object, but is met with a rebuff. The chairman announces that in spite
of the circumstances he will not give the results report to the observers
before he is back from the district commission.
December 20, 5.30 a.m.
The voting results are copied from the reports (originally filled
in with a pencil) to the big sheets hanging on the wall (filled in with
a pen). The results are as follows: 421 votes for Borshchev, 513 for Ryazanski.
For some reason the number of votes for other candidates is not listed
in the "big" report, but I noticed it was above 300 in the original report
kept by the head of the poll. An observer from "Otechestvo" ("Fatherland")
turns up. All the observers and the poll worker from "Yabloko" are copying
the results from the big sheets on the wall. I start to write a statement
on report completion, but I am told that "we will do it later, when we
are back from the district commission".
At about 6 a.m. some of the poll workers take the ballot papers, reports (including the big sheets) and leave for the district commission. The other workers stay at the poll and wait. Those who are leaving promise to call if something keeps them longer than they think.
9.30 a.m.
No calls from the district commission. All the people are tired
after the sleepless night. The observers representing Gerasimov, Borodin
and "Otechestvo" give up and go home. Only the poll workers, the LDPR observer
and I stay at the poll. It seems as if he is more interested in the "report"
than in the actual results. I make the poll workers call the district commission
to find out what is going on. They call, but do not let me talk on the
phone. Thus, I am forced to call myself. I am told that the people
from 1219 polling place have not yet left the district commission and "are
making corrections" in the report. They cannot say how much time it's going
to take them at this point. I introduce myself as an observer and say I
have not received the report yet. „Wait till they bring it” - I am
told.
At about 11.00 a.m.
The poll workers come back from the regional committee bringing
the reports on the federal parliamentary election results.
There are not any other reports. I object. The poll workers go to
the district commission again, because the poll stamp has already
been returned there.
12.30p.m.
The local committee members come back with the reports. On them
it is marked they were completed at 6 a.m. I suggest finishing the note
on report completion that I have started before, but my suggestion
is rejected. When looking through the report on the one-representative
district results I discover that there are 421 votes reported for Borshchev
just as it was before, but for Ryazanski the number is not 513 as it was
originally, but 887 (eight hundred eighty-seven). The column „others” says
„zero”. I strongly object and I request that they immediately call the
district commission (having slight hope that this was a mistake).
The poll workers call the district commission but don't let me speak. They say the people there refuse to speak to me. My complaint about the election results is met with the following reaction of the head of our polling station: first he says „this is how the computer has counted them” and then „the numbers were the same at the very beginning”. He says the work has been done, no more papers are going to be signed and we are all asked to leave the place. When I want to make a call, he says that „the phone has broken down”. I use a public phone to call the local „Yabloko” headquarters.
2p.m.
I report on the situation at the „Yabloko” headquarters and I write
a formal report on the violation of election law at the poll 1219. Finally,
exhausted, I go home.
December 21, 7 p.m.
Poll workers and observers gather at the „Yabloko” headquarters
to discuss what to do next. If the results of the election are to be taken
as genuine, Ryazanski had more votes than Borshchev at most of the polls.
However, the people participating in the meeting report on numerous unlawful
actions, e.g. the observers were not allowed to read the results reports,
the reports were filled in with pencil, the observers were denied their
rights and couldn’t do their duties. Many polls and the Moscow Perovo
district electoral commission have reported on such illegalities. The candidate
Valerii Borshchev and Mara Polyakova (a lawyer, person well-known to the
human rights movement, Borshchev’s confidential agent and a member of the
Perovo district commission) participate in the meeting. They decide to
appeal to the Central Electoral Commission.
December 22.
The morning edition of the Independent TV news shows the work of
the Perovo district electoral commission in a very negative way revealing
the crime involved: the police guarding the building not letting anybody
in; not even TV journalists and "Yabloko" observers. The commission workers
(including the human rights activist Karina Moskalenko) stay locked in
a room. Out of the open windows they shout to the people gathered outside
that they are not allowed to work, physical force is used against the "Yabloko"
observers, and that something unbelievable is going on at the room where
the ballots are.
A simple conclusion: if someone says no fraud was involved in the last election in Russia, it is not true. What happened in the Moscow Perovo district is perfect evidence.