CNN reports:
"With 100 percent of precincts reporting, and 99.7 percent
of the vote counted, Medvedev -- President Vladimir Putin's hand-picked
successor -- held 70.2 percent of the vote, the Central Election Commission
reported.
But Golos, a Russian vote monitoring group, says it has
received allegations of multiple voting papers, falsified names on electoral
registers, the stuffing of ballot boxes and electoral observers and media being
barred from polling stations, AP added.
The Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the continent's top election
watchdog, refused to monitor the balloting because of what it called severe
restrictions on its observers by the Russian government. Putin insisted last
month that Russia
has "fully implemented" all of its commitments to the OSCE."
The Moscow
Times explains how some of the fraud is perpetrated:
"Most fraud occurs when election officials compile lists
of voters, including people who are not eligible to vote in their
district," Golos head Lilia Shibanova said.
Observers at polling stations simply cannot distinguish repeat
voters -- who visit numerous polling stations to cast ballots for a candidate
backed by authorities -- from real voters, Shibanova said."
The Moscow Times piece contains more examples of fraud and
intimidation, and is worth a look.
The leader of Russia's
Communist Party has announced he
will go to court to contest the election results.
