As the head of the election commission, I was responsible for organizing and conducting elections at this polling station, as well as submitting the results to the higher commission. My commission was formed in 2013, and we participated in elections from 2014 onward, including the 2016 elections for the State Duma and the regional legislative body, the 2018 presidential elections, the 2019 elections for the regional head and municipal elections, the 2020 referendum on constitutional amendments, and the 2021 elections for the State Duma and the regional legislative assembly.
My term expired in 2023, and I did not plan to participate in further elections, especially after leaving Russia on September 21, 2022, in connection with the well-known presidential decree.
“I was immediately informed that we were to achieve certain election results”
I was recommended for the precinct election commission by a friend who, like me, worked in the public sector and chaired a precinct election commission. In general, the only way to enter this system was either through a recommendation or by appointment from the chairman of the Territorial Election Commission.
Some parties, such as Yabloko and A Just Russia, sent their independent representatives. Others – the Liberal Democratic Party and the Communists – always had their own member of the precinct election commission. For example, my colleague was assigned as a secretary from the Liberal Democratic Party, although he had no relation to that party whatsoever. Regarding independent party members, there were also instructions from the chairman of the Territorial Election Commission. Unless they showed initiative, we were told not to notify them about meetings at all or to say, “If you are too busy, you have the right not to participate.” Many of them were happy with this.
The commissions' budgets were approved by the chairman of the Territorial Election Commission for each election. From 2013 to 2018, in addition to paying for the hours worked by precinct election commission members, there were also contracts for driving, posting flyers, cleaning, and so on.
Since 2018, payments have been greatly reduced, and only working hours were paid for. Of course, this severely undermined motivation, and then the so-called “support” for election commissions was invented.
A week before the elections, envelopes with money were handed out right on the premises of the Territorial Election Commission – somewhere around 50,000 to 60,000 rubles. This was done by people from municipalities. It was very carefully justified: “We are working for the good of the fatherland, the party, and this is an incentive related to delivering favorable election results.” I myself, as the chairman, had to distribute the money among the commission members.
Read the full confession report here “We were handed envelopes with 'incentives' for delivering favorable results”: A Russian election official's confession (theins.ru)
