Elections: More dirty tricks

(All links below are in Russian)

In the town Balashov, Saratov region, people who planned to vote for Spravedlivaya Rossiya (Fair Russia) receive letters with condolences on the death of their relatives. All their relatives were alive. The fake letters were "signed" by Zinaida Samsonova, the candidate of Fair Russia.

Spam e-mail messages signed by SPS party (Union of the Rightist Forces) are being sent by unknown people. The messages contain links to a web-site which imitates the official web-site of SPS, but opens a large number of pop-up windows and alert messages with SPS slogans which virtually block the browser.

In Perm and Orenburg, citizens receive receive letters demanding to donate to SPS with threats to fine them if they don't pay. The envelopes also include fake discount cards with the information that the discounts are sponsored from the SPS electoral fund. Also, filled bank transfer blanks are included. The blanks contain correct bank details of the SPS account, but there are neither signatures, nor official stamps of the SPS on the blanks.

In St.Petersburg, the city officials campaign for the pro-Putin Yedinaya Rossiya (United Russia) even in churches. When the activists of Fair Russia asked about 10,000 citizens of St.Petersburg whether they felt any kind of pressure from the officials demanding them to vote for United Russia, 35% said yes, and 32% more said that they heard such stories from their friends or relatives. In Mozhaisky Military Academy the students are informed that their future job will depend on who they vote for. Workers of kindergardens report that the officials oblige them to participate in advance voting and to fill the election bulletins at work, in the presence of the superiors. The Vaileostrovsky regional health service offices demand the physicians to carry on propaganda for the United Russia. The local administration of Kalininsky district threatened to fire the school teachers who will not vote for the UR.

The director-manager of the "Siberian Coal Energy Company" Alexander Loginov received the following letter from the Kemerovo regional office of the United Russia:

Your refusal to financially aid the the regional office of United Russia in the election campaign to the 5th State Duma is considered as a refusal to support President V. V. Putin and his creative policy.

I feel obliged to inform the President's Administration and the Governor of Kemerovo region on your position.

The letter is written on the official blank of United Russia, has the signature of the regional party leader, the official stamp and the registration number. The copy of the letter is here.

The results of this ultra-aggressive campaign have been demonstrated by the recent public opinion poll held by VTsIOM. 55.9% of the interviewees said that they will vote for the United Russia. 5.8% support the Communist Party, 4.7% support Liberal-Democratic Party, 4.9% will vote for the Fair Russia. The threshold for eligibility to win seats in Duma is 7%.