Page 9 - RusRPTAug20

100% vote for Putin that several republics in the Caucasus reported in the last presidential election - and in some cases like Chechnya the official result was even over 100%.
Shpilkin's study also finds that the "for" vote is dragged up into the top right hand corner where the turnout tends to 100% and the vote "for" also tends to 100%, whereas the "no" vote tends to zero as the turnout tends to 100%.
At a more mundane level opposition groups that carried out their own independent exit polls found that in contradiction to the official results, the majority of Muscovites and St Peterburgers voted against the change to the constitution.
According to the polls of the "NO!" campaign, 53% voted against the motion and only 47% were for. In St Petersburg the no vote was even bigger. with 62% opposing the motion and 38% for. According to the official count, both cities voted for the motion in the majority.
At the Russian consulate in London, Russians participating in the vote resoundingly rejected the motion to change the constitution, with 80.5% voting "no" and only 19.3% voting "yes."
According to the official results, the only region inside Russia to vote against the motion was the Nenets Autonomous Okrug on Russia's icy far northern coast, which only has 44,000 inhabitants.
Some have claimed that the referendum is Russia most rigged vote to date. Certainly it is clear the authorities were heavy handed in their efforts to get the result they wanted. Shpilkin's estimate of an extra 22.4mn votes injected into the count is more than double the extra 10mn votes that are believed to have been injected into the 2018 presidential race.
The European Union has called on Russia to probe reports of irregularities in a national, non-binding plebiscite that approved a sprawling package of constitutional amendments.
"We are aware of reports and allegations of irregularities during the vote, including voter coercion, double voting, violation of secrecy of the vote, and allegations of police violence against a journalist who was present to observe," EU spokesman Peter Stano said. "We expect these reports to be duly investigated, because these are serious allegations," Stano added.
Ella Pamfilova, head of the commission overseeing the vote, said balloting had been transparent and there was no evidence of vote rigging.
Anti-corruption blogger and opposition activist Alexei Navalny lambasted the vote and called for protests once the coronavirus restrictions are removed.
"The just-announced 'results' are a fake and a huge lie," Navalny wrote in a blog post on July 1. "They have nothing in common with the
9​ RUSSIA Country Report​ August 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com