The Central Election Commission allowed the use of electronic terminals and entered into an absentee debate with Nadezhdin

The Central Election Commission (CEC) on Wednesday allowed the use of electronic terminals for voting at temporary polling stations in Moscow – however, not at all 2.3 thousand, but in exceptional cases, the CEC clarified. Also, the chairman of the commission, Ella Pamfilova, entered into an absentee debate with ex-presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin, whose claims against the Central Election Commission are scheduled to be considered by the Supreme Court on February 15. According to her, the norms that he challenges have been working perfectly for almost 20 years, but the liberal public demonstrates “an absolutely cavernous legal consciousness.”

At a meeting on Wednesday, CEC Chairman Ella Pamfilova, commenting on politician Boris Nadezhdin’s appeal to the Supreme Court in connection with the refusal to register as a presidential candidate, entered into an absentee discussion with him, accusing the liberal public of “an absolutely cavernous legal consciousness.” She noted that in the “so-called opposition press” the main discussion is not whether Mr. Nadezhdin fulfilled all the norms correctly, but whether they will give a command from above to register him, whether the Central Election Commission will take him “under the hood” and whether the court will be given a command to make this or that decision ? Although Boris Nadezhdin himself has repeatedly stated that he also deeply respects the law and that everything must be according to the law – whether you like it or not, Ms. Pamfilova explained.

Let us recall that in his lawsuits the politician challenges the procedure for verifying signatures and the forms for the list of collectors established by the commission. Meanwhile, the norms that Boris Nadezhdin is challenging have been in place for almost 20 years, and he has not yet made any serious complaints about this, said the chairman of the Central Election Commission. “It is clear that on the eve of the trial, we, as people who deeply respect the law, will not say anything unnecessary now,” she said. “At the trial, all arguments will be considered, but after the trial, colleagues, excuse me, we will not deny ourselves It’s my pleasure to comment on everything as much as possible. We have more than enough materials.” But Ms. Pamfilova still did not deny herself the pleasure now, telling about the signature collector who, on January 23, almost simultaneously collected the autographs of voters registered in Adygea, Dagestan, Primorsky Territory, as well as in the Bryansk and Kaluga regions.

In turn, Boris Nadezhdin’s headquarters on Monday published the Central Election Commission’s objections to the claims. They state that the CEC, in approving these documents, acted within the limits of its powers, and the applicant’s claims to them are not based on the provisions of the election legislation.

Also at a meeting on Wednesday, the commission allowed voting through electronic terminals at additional polling stations established in Moscow in areas where non-residents are densely populated. Until now, recalled Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Nikolai Bulaev, the provision on remote electronic voting (DEG) did not provide for the possibility of using terminals at temporary sites and this seemed correct, because such sites are created in places where the use of remote voting is impossible – in hospitals, on ships, in institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service, etc. But time passes, and new opportunities appear. Such temporary polling stations will be equipped in accordance with all the rules for stationary polling stations, Bulaev promised – that is, we are talking about the presence of not only terminals, but also voting boxes, booths, video surveillance equipment, etc. Therefore, the decision on the use of terminals at temporary polling stations will be adopted in exceptional cases, by mutual agreement of the Central Election Commission and the Moscow City Election Commission, and it is already approximately clear where they may be, said the deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission. But he did not specify where exactly.

“But what is meant by an exceptional case, what are the legal criteria?” – Evgeniy Kolyushin, a member of the Central Election Commission, became interested. “This does not mean a hospital, not FSIN institutions, not courts and not other places,” Mr. Bulaev answered him mysteriously.

“Stationary polling stations are created on the territory, and temporary ones – on an object, in this case we are talking about a certain object,” Nikolai Bulaev continued even more mysteriously.

But the principle of creating such a site is an exceptional situation, the deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission continued to develop the idea. “There must be a large number of people about whom we predict that they can sign up for our temporary polling station… The point is that predictably there is a point, predictably there is an object where there is already a large number of people who do not have the opportunity to vote elsewhere , except the one in which they are located…”

Evgeny Kolyushin did not specify the location of the “forecast object” and explained that he is, in principle, against the trend towards “Americanization of elections.” In the USA, he recalled, there are no uniform rules for organizing voting and each state comes up with its own. As for voting terminals, according to Mr. Kolyushin, this generally contradicts the principle of remote voting: if a person has already come to the polling station, then why not give him a paper ballot?

But then CEC member Anton Lopatin rose to defend the national voting system.

“I ask you in the future not to compare our electoral system with the “garbage” American system, where they choose dead dogs, where ballots are lying near trash heaps after the elections,” he said indignantly.

At this point, the issue of voting in temporary polling stations through terminals was closed. In total, according to the Central Election Commission, 740 thousand people submitted applications to vote at their place of residence using the “mobile voter” system, 100 thousand of them signed up for polling stations in Moscow.

Anastasia Kornya