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'Black PR' Blamed for Russian Voters' Apathy
Rossiyskaya Gazeta 16 October 2001 [translation for personal use only] Report by Vladislav Vorobyev: "Inert Electorate. Muscovites and Petersburgers Refuse To Take Part in Repeat Elections for State Duma Seats"
Last weekend saw repeat elections for deputies' seats in the State Duma in the three regions of Russia. But only in the Republic of Tyva was the voting ruled valid. The inhabitants of both Russian capitals simply ignored this socially significant event. In both Moscow and St Petersburg fewer than 25% of the electorate went to the polling stations -- which means according to the letter of the law that the results of the voting are null and void.
As most analysts had predicted, the wave of "black PR" that has rolled across the entire country in recent years brought forth its inauspicious "fruits" this Sunday. Tired of the "election mud" being thrown on all sides, the electorate simply did not go to the polling booths to vote.
According to preliminary figures from the Moscow City electoral commission, only 19.57 percent of voters cast their ballots for any particular candidate in the election for State Duma deputy for the Chertanovskiy Single-Seat Electoral District No. 204.
Meanwhile, in the northern capital, Electoral District No. 209 seems to be doomed in some way. Observers called the election held there on Sunday an expensive sociological poll, since approximately R4 million were spent on staging it, and the deputyship is still left without a new owner.
What is more, if we recall the events of the last few years, it turns out that repeat elections in St Petersburg have most often been held precisely in District 209. Galina Starovoytova, elected here in 1995, was murdered in 1998. From 1999 St Petersburg's District 209 was represented in the State Duma by Sergey Stepashin, but he did the job for less than a year before setting aside his authorities as a deputy on being appointed chair of the Comptroller's Office. Since then, repeat elections have been held on two further occasions. But the seat still remains vacant. Now, evidently, no new vote will be held in District 209 until the next [full] State Duma elections in 2003.
It was only the inhabitants of the Republic of Tyva who were not averse to exercising their constitutional right. As the local election commission has announced, according to preliminary figures republic government deputy head Chylgychi Ondar currently leads with 38.57 percent of the votes. Second place, only two percent behind, has gone to Tyva Internal Affairs Minister Sergey Mongush. True, as the electoral commission made clear, it cannot be said with complete confidence yet who will be the State Duma deputy, since owing to a lack of communications facilities the commission has not yet received the results of the voting from two wards. The final results will not be published until today.
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