Widespread Fraud Suspected In Last Week's Parliamentary Elections In Russia

 

RFE: Researcher Says Raw Voting Data Points To Massive Fraud In United Russia's Duma Victory  

A Russian researcher known for detailed analyses of past elections says fraud was a major factor in the State Duma election victory of the ruling United Russia party. 

Sergei Shpilkin, who published his analysis on September 21, two days after the Duma election concluded, said that, without vote manipulation, the Kremlin-backed party would have likely received around 31-33 percent of ballots in the party-list voting -- not the nearly 50 percent reported by the Central Election Commission. 

Shpilkin’s analysis adds to the growing clouds looming over the vote, which was already under suspicion due to the concentrated state crackdown on the alternative voter-guide strategy promoted by jailed corruption crusader Aleksei Navalny, among other things.  

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WNU Editor: Putin's United Russia party will have 324 of 450 seats in the next Russian parliament .... Kremlin’s party gets 324 of 450 seats in Russian parliament (AP).

Bending to how lopsided the online voting was, the Kremlin is now saying it will audit the votes .... Monitors to audit Moscow online vote after outcry - Inferfax (Reuters). I am skeptical that this will change the final results.