Moscow polling station accused of blocking observers during vote count VIDEO

Observers at a Moscow polling station were allegedly prevented from monitoring the counting of ballots after voting ended, Ostorozhno, Novosti reports.

People who worked as observers at Polling Station No. 2850 in Moscow’s Troparevo-Nikulino district said election commission members repeatedly prevented them from approaching the table where ballots were being counted.

According to the observers, commission members told them to keep their distance and accused them of potentially interfering with the counting process. The observers said they were pushed away when they attempted to get closer to the counting table.

“They shouted at us a couple of times, telling us not to come close and not to interfere. Apparently, they simply didn’t want us to ‘throw them off.’ Although it is unclear how one or two observers standing on the other side could actually interfere with them,” eyewitnesses told Ostorozhno, Novosti.

The observers also alleged that the ballots were not counted aloud. Instead, they said, the ballots were silently sorted into piles on the table.

“During the counting of ballots in the single-member constituencies, one pile stood out significantly compared with the others. At the end, the chairwoman gave the deputy chair the figure 484 — the number of votes for the United Russia party,” the observers said.

By Vafa Guliyeva