A NVO participant from the Murmansk region was not allowed to tell voters about military merits

The Territorial Electoral Commission (TEC) of ZATO Aleksandrovsk, Murmansk Oblast, refused the request of Rifat Shindin (KPRF), a candidate for the local council of deputies, to enter information about participation in a special military operation (SVO) and the presence of state awards in the ballot, as well as place this data on an information stand. The TEC referred to normative documents containing a list of information included in the bulletin, although after the scandal that arose, they agreed to clarify it on the poster. According to the expert, veterans of the Northern Military District should have no problems with placing their combat biography on the stands, but adding it to the bulletin already looks redundant.

Artur Popov, the first secretary of the Murmansk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, told Kommersant about the refusal of the TEC to inform voters about the military merits of Rifat Shindin. According to him, the candidate applied to the commission because he considered this information “extremely important for the inhabitants of the military city,” of which he is a native. In addition, Mr. Shindin sent a photograph to the TEC for an information stand, in which he is depicted in military uniform.

According to the GAS “Vybory”, Rifat Shindin is running for the council of deputies of ZATO Aleksandrovsk in constituency No. 15. He is a serviceman of military unit No. 08275. According to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, he volunteered for the SVO in 2022, he has incentives and letters from the command, a certificate of a participant in hostilities. For courage and heroism he was awarded the Zhukov medal.

The chairman of the TEC, Diana Smagulova, found no reason to mention the combat experience of the veteran either in the bulletin or on the information poster. In response to the candidate, the head of the commission referred to the federal law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights”, which contains an exhaustive list of information entered into the ballot (full name, year of birth, place of residence, place of work and subject of nomination), as well as to the regional law duplicating these norms on municipal elections.

True, these documents also state that the amount of biographical data on the information board can be wider than indicated in the ballot, and its size is set by the election commission. And in the provision on informing voters, adopted by the TEC itself, among other things, it is allowed to place information of a “biographical nature” on the stands, including information about the presence of state awards.

In the Murmansk regional electoral committee, Kommersant could not comment on the situation. According to Artur Popov, Rifat Shindin managed to prepare a complaint against the actions of the TEC, but after the publication of Ms. Smagulova’s response on social networks, the higher authorities intervened in the situation. “The chairman of the commission called the candidate and said that the data would be posted on the stand. Although we believe that she still had to apologize for her callousness, ”said the communist. He added that the commission agreed to post a photo of Mr. Shindin in military uniform, but asked to “photoshop” the background so that it was solid.

The manifestation of any sluggishness or harassment against the participants of the SVO immediately receives a public outcry and a reaction from state bodies, reminds electoral lawyer Anton Rudakov. “The current regulations allow publishing all the necessary information on the stands, including about state awards, the status of a combat veteran, and so on. But the candidate, of course, is obliged to apply to the commission in a timely manner and provide supporting documents. An error occurred in the Murmansk region, which had to be corrected at a fairly high level, ”the expert notes. At the same time, according to him, the list of data entered into the ballot is limited by federal law, and it is often difficult to even fit it into the document, especially if KOIBs are used in elections. Therefore, the inclusion of additional parameters there “will cause problems and is not entirely advisable,” Mr. Rudakov believes: “It is quite enough to place such information on the stands, as well as use it in your election campaign.”

Andrew Ashes