In Moscow, not everyone who wants to vote with paper ballots is being given them. A lawyer calls this illegal

In Moscow, not everyone who wants to vote with paper ballots is being given them. A lawyer calls this illegal

Communist Party candidate Matvey Zotov told Ostorozhno, Novosti that at one polling station in Moscow, according to him, all voters were automatically registered for electronic voting, and no ballots had been provided for them.

An OVD-Info lawyer says that refusing to issue ballots is illegal.

Voting through a terminal is a voter’s right, not an obligation. Exactly the same as electronic voting via the internet (DEG). A person cannot be “automatically” registered for elections in this way; such a mechanism simply does not exist,

the lawyer says.

If a voter is being forced to vote through a terminal and is refused a paper ballot, they can demand an explanation for the refusal and contact the chair of the election commission, OVD-Info notes. If the commission chair also refuses to issue a ballot, a complaint can be filed — more details here.

On Sunday, September 20, watch Dozhd’s special broadcasts: throughout the day, we will be following the voting process.

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