United Russia deputy Maria Maksakova has claimed that party primaries in St. Petersburg were fraudulent, the Dozhd TV news channel reported Tuesday. Maksakova made the accusations after she was defeated in her primary on May 22 by Sergey Vostretsov.
Maksakova claims to have published a video showing several counts of alleged election fraud taking place. When her assistant arrived at the polling station in the morning ?€?around 500?€? ballot papers visible in the ballot box despite only one person having voted, she told Dozhd. The local electoral commission were unable to give her an answer on the alleged discrepancy.
The politician also told the TV channel that buses full of people who had already voted in different districts were brought to her electoral district to participate in the elections. Videos of the reported violations have now been sent to United Russia party headquarters, she said.
Vostretsov led a practically non-existent campaign, whilst her volunteers went to ?€?almost every building,?€? she told reporters.