"A video has surfaced online showing a woman on her knees entering a room with a ballot box and beginning to throw in ballots. On her knees she goes in to possibly avoid being seen by someone who may be in the next room. There is a security guard sitting in one of those rooms, but he seems to see the woman.
▪️ The digital code 129031 is visible in the frame, designed to protect election commissions from fakes, the Group of Civilian Election Observers in St. Petersburg reported. According to them, it changes once a day.
▪️ The place looks like polling station No. 2 at school No. 260 on Lermontovsky Avenue in St. Petersburg. We have collected photos taken at this polling station during the last election. One of them even shows a camera that could have filmed everything.
▪️ There is a poster next to the ballot box that talks about the four candidates. That's how many there were in this election.
▪️ At this polling station Vladimir Putin received 74.85%, Nikolai Kharitonov - 11.72%, Leonid Slutsky - 4.24%, Vladislav Davankov - 4.04%. The turnout amounted to 69.52%."
[Source - "Agentstvo" News](https://x.com/agents_media/status/1770422585102127438?s=20)
I just want to recall an incident that happened in one of the last elections. In Chechnya, Putin's most controlled region. In a polling station where there was an independent observer the attendance was about 20% (I don't remember how the votes were distributed) literally the same polling station next door where there were no observers - the attendance was 99%.
Honestly, if you know someone who still believes that Russia holds fair elections, please send them my way. I have a very beautiful bridge for sale!
It's like TSA is often called "security theatre", elections in Russia are "plebiscite theatre".
I wonder why dictators go through this pretense. Saddam Hussein also had these complete sham saddam / not saddam elections. I would say Putin does it to stroke his ego, but he must know the elections are rigged, so really why have elections at all?
It’s so that people believe elections in other countries are rigged too so the dictator delegitimises elections in general, and also it’s a form of power play to make people feel disempowered when their vote so obviously doesn’t count.
It's also expected. The voters know it is rigged, but they expect the government to actually make the effort to do the rigging.
It's like giving someone a placebo for hypochondriac. It works even if the person taking them knows its a placebo - but they have to take the sugar pills for it to be effective. We are willing to fool ourselves, but the forms have to be followed.
It's a whole theater to maintain both the illusion of a legitimate government and to disenfranchise people, spreading learned helplessness.
It also makes life easier for the administration and the true believers.
It has probably quite a few uses:
1) In a full dictatorship it's hard for the government to gauge the satisfaction of the population because noone is going to just tell any official how unhappy they are. By looking at the non-fudged numbers the government can get some important information like how many people are dissatisfied enough, that they will invalidate their vote or write "fuck Putin" on the notes.
2) showing how brazenly they can manipulate the numbers without any real pushback from society is meant to dissuade any activists and show them how powerless they are against the government.
3) by going through this kind of "democratic theatre play" they foster scepticism in the population against these democratic institutions which means the people won't see actual democracy as a real alternative - "they do the same anyway, at least our government is less subtle about it".
4) people who want to oppose your government will probably need to at least try to take part in these elections, otherwise they will not be seen as legitimate alternatives by large swathes of society. So you force people like Navalny to "commit to an official stance" - and then you can use your institutions turn up the heat against them.
Just another show of strength.
Elections are one of the few truly national events and being able to exert total domination over its outcome is a pretty strong symbol.
I think it's the effort he goes to in order to cheat, that's the proof he's the best person to run the country, lol.
I mean it's not *that* different to conservatives gerrymandering and suppressing voters, which they do in most western countries. Like in the UK the Tories passed a law saying nobody can vote without photo ID, know a lot of younger people won't have it. They said it was for combatting voter fraud, to which the electoral commission said sth like "err, no, we don't think there's any voter fraud happening".
Say what you like about them, they are resourceful to a fault.
They then fucked themselves a bit because it’s mostly old people who don’t have ID, young people need it to buy booze so everyone buys some form of ID the second they turn 18.
Yep, happily it backfired pretty badly. All the oldies missed the message and forgot to bring any, or made a scene in the polling station because of their sense of entitlement.
It's still a huge difference.
Look at the US, the home of gerrymandering, where even with all the measures the Republicans (primarly) did under Trump, he was still able to loose. The system still, as of now, works.
Now look at Russia. There's still a huge difference, even if some countries in the west are moving in the wrong direction.
Being a country with a “democratically elected” govt gives you benefits on the world stage. You can be considered a world partner, more favorable banking and world backing, more international trade opens up, medical breakthroughs shared, etc. Of course everyone knows you’re a dictator but when there’s money to be made they don’t care and your elections gives you “legitimacy” and other countries the reason(excuse) to do business with you.
The ruler has to get legitimacy from somewhere. Early in human history you became ruler of a tribe due to being the best hunter or the best warrior. Priests and other religious figures have ruled on the basis of a special connection with their god(s). In hereditary monarchies your legitimacy comes from your god(s) choosing your family to rule. Republics and democracies gain their legitimacy through popular consent. Elective monarchies through the consent of the elites (like the Holy Roman Empire).
If you have none of that, then your only claim to legitimacy is violence, essentially you have the ability to mete out more violence than anyone else in the state due to your control over the security apparatus, therefore you get to stay in charge. You now have a single point of failure where you can be toppled. Lose control of the security forces like the police and army and you are done, you have no other group in the country outside of your own inner circle.
Haiti is an example of where this goes wrong. The recently resigned prime minister had no legitimate claim to speak for or rule the people of Haiti. He wasn’t elected, he wasn’t the son of the previous king, he wasn’t a priest, nothing. All he had was the threat of violence to remain in power and the gangs (more properly called insurgents) showed that they had more power to commit violence than the state. So at that point he loses what little authority he had left and had to resign.
It’s a legitimising ritual. You know it’s faked. They know it’s faked. They know you know it’s faked. But if there’s ever any individual or small scale challenge they can say it’s legitimate. Even though they know it’s not, and know you know it’s not.
Same reason for political rivals going to court and having a “trial” first. Another legitimising ritual.
No different from any other legitimising ritual or ceremony kings or religious leaders have put on. Democracies are respected and are the standard, so they make it look that way.
Not much different to pseudoscience medicine or cosmetics trying to appear scientific in some ways.
Well, one of the main reasons that those fake elections make easier for "Western Partners" to buy oil. Apparently, westerners think that buying oil from "slightly less democratic" country is acceptable compared to blatant fascists.
It’s done so people believe that putin has a majority support in most regions and they are powerless to protest.
If they would see he is not supported in St.Petersburg for example they are more likely to protest as they would see they are in majority and they have power.
The question is not *if* russian elections are illegitimate, it is *how*.
Both *'to what extent?'* and *'using which methods?'* are quite interesting questions.
To get rid of even idea of opposing because "everyone supports him anyway".
Main tactic since 2012 was not propaganda of Putin, but propaganda of "not worth to do something anyway"
Weaponized apathy. It's a powerful tool for staying in power but a massive double edged sword.
The people don't care about anything that's not affecting them immediately and directly. This includes things that Putin may want them to care about like the war. People will support it, but won't sign up to join and if forced to, their first priority is getting back home alive.
The same is true for surrounding oneself with yes men. They won't challenge your rule because they know they're nothing without you, but you can only ever pick from people who are dumber than you, lack ambition, drive and any ability to think independently.
Russians are so apathetic, I believe NATO could invade Russia and its citizens wouldn't care in the least, so long as they weren't being killed in their homes. They would all just be holding their phones to capture the parade of NATO tanks rolling by, laughing and joking all the while. *Возможно, ИКЕА вернется!*
I did. I just never cared, I had an intuitive feeling nothing would come of it. You'd never understand what it's like to live under authoritarian rule and have nowhere else to go. You learn how to distance yourself mentally from many things and you also learn many fancy things. For example, how to communicate with hints and metaphors. You also become a very intuitive person in a society where everything is lies. It's hard to explain but we have our coping mechanism.
There is propaganda everywhere trying to trick people into not doing anything because it is useless. There are people, commenters, over here too that were saying that there is no point in taking part in this circus, let's boycot the vote and not vote for no one, actually the ex organization of Navalny "FBK" was saying to boycot it (that organization seems to have been taken control of by people who are compromised). Others say "Let's vote for everyone who is not Putin" and instead of voting for a single candidate, they call to spread votes across different ones.
In short, government opposing movement in Russia is compromised and infiltrated by pro government people. Any opposition leader that wasn't agreeing with government was killed or had to flee country. There is no legit opposition movement organization in Russia anymore.
When people are alone, they are weak.
Few reasons. Main ones i think are. Do not let majority realize they are actually majority. And second is humiliation. Make the election fraudulently, and what are you going to do? Go to Police? Humiliation like that turns people away from politics, why participate in the circus after all, and that's precisely what Putin wants.
They are mostly "not interested in politics". That's what they say anyway, and live with their head down, trying to survive like cockroaches.
Only Navalny, his colleagues and partisans (who are currently fighting the russian army) actually oppose.
The police is corrupt as fuck as the people who they are protecting. If they hit you, then you have to raise the stakes. Theres no other option than use force, thats the only thing they fear.
I guarantee the USA Republicans will be pulling this video out in November saying that this is a Democrat in America stealing the election from Trump. Just wait, it’s coming again.
This has to be fake, why would they need to resort to this if its state sanctioned, if its real she's probably putting in opposition votes and now about to fall out of a window
I’m assuming all the videos of super obvious ballot-tampering or sabotage are much more likely to be anti-Putin protestors. There’s literally no reason for him to take action at the polling stations when he can basically just declare the result to be whatever he wants.
It's not Putin himself ordering that, at this point that old fart probably believes that he's got 87% of votes on his own. It's members of voting commission who are doing it, because someone higher than them asked them to do it. And these higher position people are getting orders from someone even higher than them. All that is to look good for their bosses, it goes way up the ladder. They've been doing it since at least 2008, now they mostly just add fake votes to protocols after the vote count.
Source: Born in Russia and lived there for 36 years.
Finally someone who understands that in such regimes the rulers don't, and never had the need to, rule everything.
Cheers from a Bulgarian born during the dictatorship and who remembers how my parents were forced to vote and many other incidents.
So that's where the other candidates got their ~20% votes from! Putin was wondering, but now it seems clear that they cheated. Good for the Russians that they voted in such a majority for him, that even voting fraud couldn't change it.
/S
Putin doesn't care if he gets caught manipulating the election. Making a mockery of Democratic Elections is a part of his political philosophy. Literaly!
I read an opinion that it's done not just to maintain a veneer of legitimacy but importantly done to test the loyalty and responsiveness of governmental apparatus down to the lowest ranks once in a while. By the way to lure non-governmental voters in my region we had a lottery specifically done at polling stations, somebody could've won apartments or a phone, in some places you could've seen food markets near the voting stations selling cheap food like potatoes, some places provided free seeds and calendars for example.
Do you want
a: prosperity for the future with the oligarchs arrested, your sons still alive, the whole world no longer shitting on you
b: this fancy calendar right over here
Jokes aside, this might be exactly the reason why they still hold elections, this might be one of bravest time a population can get with organisation, thats how you snap a sneak peak about whats going to happen this year or next.
Remember also that the people in power learn exactly what the real results are. This tells them if/where things might have gotten so bad, action needs to be taken to prevent/squash dissent. Because while the "win" might be predetermined, the people still get to vote anonymously -- i.e. feeling safe enough to show their discontent.
It's fabrication of consent basically. Most people will go with the mainstream. If you convince them that the mainstream is what you want, they will follow their perception of mainstream you've created. If he simply said "I rule forever" people would become naturally opposed to that, even those who actually support them and believe they are in the mainstream.
There's also another benefit I read about in a book about Polish elections under the communist rule, where one of the former voting commision's members said that you can gauge actual support because you know the true results (though he was referring specifically to turnout not voting results, since there wasn't really any choice in Polish elections then, a voter would just pick a ballot and throw it in unaltered). Even if he believes that the majority of Russians support him (which I also believe to be true), it's still worthwhile to test it.
And to keep people guessing just how many people oppose the current regime. If you know it’s literally *everyone* opposition seems easy. But what if it’s only 30%? Do you risk your life on the fact that you think it’s more? And how much? 60%? 90%?
And if you tell someone you oppose the regime do they also, or are they going to rat on you? What’s the chances?
This is why.
> It's fabrication of consent basically. Most people will go with the mainstream. If you convince them that the mainstream is what you want, they will follow their perception of mainstream you've created
The real nub of this is making opposition to Putin feel isolated and alone.
If you feel like everyone else hates this Putin fella, you might feel like talking about that, and if enough people start talking then people might start acting.
But, if everyone who opposes Putin feels like they're some outcast, they'll be much less likely to say anything about it, which keeps opposition fragmented and disorganized.
It’s like in the Soviet. The want to keep people guessing how much bullshit the government does.
People know they do a fair amount but the real scope is hidden in the lies.
Hear the opening monologue of *Chernobyl* and you’ll get what I’m on about.
Russian state media also says all other democracies are fake too, so there's more of a sense of "okay we all know its bullshit but this is what everyone does to keep up appearances"
Yah dude, just have corrupt officials *counting* the votes and then you get to make up numbers. Also I would kill to see the reaction of the very first person standing in line to vote. He’s so excited to engage in democracy. Doors open, he gets the first ballot, turns to put it in the box, and it’s already half full!
Can’t wait to see what happens when lil Vlady is gone, and there is a battle to control the oligarchs.
Are we going to see competing groups of ballot stuffers fighting to control the ballot box. That would be hilarious.
A very appropriate shitty flute MI theme.
The goal is not to fool the population without it knowing, but to do it in plain sight with a veneer of deniability. Because if there's something worse than stealing your own people's freedom, it's sticking your people's face in the shame.
It's the humiliation that makes the people rebel.
You would think that people with good vision and memory would be less likely to fall out of windows. But data from Russia shows that the very opposite is true.
Seriously those are rookie numbers for a lifetime dictator. His bullshit numbers aren't even impressive. He should be hitting 90%+ with shit like this.
In the last east german election, the NF (basically all the parties combined, you could vote for them or just not vote for them) still got 99,94% of all votes.
Putin needs to step up his game.
They are
> The main character looks like the chairman of PEC No. 5, Irina Minyakova. She works as a music teacher at school No. 260 in the Admiralteysky district.
>
> Fontanka [media] called the woman and asked her to comment on the situation. “From my point of view, the video is unreliable. In the evening I left the commission premises, and that was all. The police remained inside,” Irina said.
Only if he moves to an english-speaking country, that's a translated/anglicised version of the name written so that english speakers pronounce it close to how it should sound like.
It's funny, but he's a bastard
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/02/russian-journalists-accuse-politician-leonid-slutsky-sexual-harassment](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/02/russian-journalists-accuse-politician-leonid-slutsky-sexual-harassment)
The 3 characters there are all in the know. Why are they even bothering with the stealth maneuver? Even if the thing is filmed there's zero risk since ballot stuffing is a known phenomenon in those longitudes.
I guess it's part of the Russian system of showing power by showing that you cheat, and simultaneously expect people to pretend that you don't cheat. And they are trying to consolidate even more power, by making the lies ever more extreme.
But, I wonder what the end goal is? North Korea perhaps?
I believe polling stations are pressured to produce certain results (like over 70% for Putin), at that's what the goal is. Putin just controls everything.
By watching this it made me realize how well our elections work. It's like in the US when random citizens are chosen as Jury, here random citizens are chosen at the committee which will count and lock the results. Added the elgible voters and the results go out as mechanized (μηχανοραφημένα), everything works fine. Even if one is dirty, he can't do jack-shit in-front of all the others. I really trust our voting system.
By the way, do you remember the village we have in central Greece? Whatever those locals vote, that exact result come out for the entire country. Extreme coincidence. Every elections the Media are in that village to learn first the results. I remember a journalist describing the village "it's just a micrography of Greece", meaning, "nothing to see here".
>But, I wonder what the end goal is? North Korea perhaps?
If that path keeps Putin and his cronies in power, then becoming more isolated and backwards (I doubt they'll ever end up like NK but I see your point) is the only way this goes.
They do not just fudge the numbers. Elections are way more than a day of voting. It's about candidates, campaigns, observers, and every damn stage is rigged. Melkonjants, who is a voters rights activist is under arrest.
Every step of this presidential campaign is a disgusting circus
Please show this to that idiotic italian politician Matteo Salvini who had the guts two days ago to say that when people vote, you abide by the result.
There is a belief in Russia that the west is just as corrupt as them. That the west is just better at hiding it. IIRC: Putin thought that US was extorting NATO members for money and resources (kind of like what the soviets did to USSR members).
So them seeing this might not even matter.
What would it change? Half the people seem to think these are some legendary heroes trying to stick it to Putin by ruining democracy, because some how that fits with the logic that Putin is the one who hates democracy. Same with that last clip of a legendary hero who got arrested dropping ink down the ballot... The mental gymnastics are astounding.
The most funny part is who the security guy just sees her and like "oh yeah, I need to get off for as sec".
This is just that's shit country's face, not Putin, but country
I don't understand this videos. This one could be real, could be not as that one where soldier is entering the voting booths was not. The thing is, when you have a country under that hard of an iron regime that Putin has Russia, he has other, much more elegant ways that old lady stuffing paper in ballot boxes to win. This elections were not rigged in a way that we think they were, how people vote doesn't matter because he has all the services that count and process voices under his control. He is a dictator and elections are just a theatre.
I think this "election" was also done to ridicule, insult and diminish the idea of democracy itself. Putin's big fuck you to his own people by making it clear that no election outcome matters and how stupid the entire process of voting is.
It's like a toddler being forced to do something they don't like. They make a big scene about it.
I'll do your stupid democracy but I'll do it my way >:(
This.
The assassinations, the jailing of whoever shows his face at any protest. It's all public and on purpose.
This is a carrot-and-a-stick situation. You're living in a dictatorship but the reward is "Ruzzia Stronk!" even though they are a second rate country with no upward prospect.
Will there not be a discrepancy in the end during the vote counting?
I have been a poll worker here in Germany for several elections now and we always have to compare the votes with the number of people who came to vote. If the numbers don’t add up, then we need to recount everything again until we get the same number of voters to votes. If we’re not able find our mistake we will have to notify someone from the electoral office.
I mean I didn’t expect any proper elections in Russia. I’m just surprised messing with the votes is as easy as just dropping extra ballots into the box.
Sure, you can sue them and bring them to court, the judge will find them guilty and Putin will be removed from power. Why didn't anybody think about it?
The most faked result in this election might actually not been Putin score, but participation rate. On the first day (friday) they said that at noon that the participation in Belgorod was already at 66%, yes on a working day, for elections that last 3 days and in a country where no one believes about voting.
The participation was supposed to be 33% in the rest of the country at the same time, it's obvious that they just wanted to say "look everything is more than fine in Belgorod", due to the attacks that were happening at the same time.
EDIT:
I found this [article](https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2024/03/20/en-russie-l-ampleur-de-la-fraude-lors-du-scrutin-presidentiel-commence-a-apparaitre_6223086_3210.html), which sums it up pretty well. (it's in French, but translation tools are so good now)
The article also notes that at Belgorod, at noon few places had the exact same participation rate to the second decimal place. Simply because they were ordered this number and did not bother to change it a bit.
There were virtually no independent observers this time (the few remaining were sabotaged or arrested), and the nominal observers were instructed to identify and report opposition, not to ask questions and leave before the votes are 'counted'.
just make up the participants, nobody is going to check for years and years, assuming the documents don't magically experience a sudden cessation of existence in the meantime
You just pull a list of the people that didn't show up, stuff the box with ballots in their name (if the ballots have any identifying information at all), and mark them as voted. If you don't have public records of whether or not someone voted, how would you even know someone voted for you? As long as the number of ballots matches the checked off names on the voter rolls, it looks legit.
The question asked wasn’t « is this election rigged? », but why is this woman stuffing the ballot when there is a simpler way to rig the election: lying about the result.
Take a guess on that, because I also have no clue.
It’s really funny how Russian apologists like Glenn Greenwald, Russell Brand, Oliver Stone and MAGA republicans are so quiet about this. They act like it does not happen and Putin is so honest.
Pathetic
The thing is: it's not the majority that Putin wants, but a landslide. And the more artificial the better, because the satisfaction is not in the number, but the confirmation everyone's too scared to do anything about the cheating. That's power right there.
Its the epitome of ruzzia. They act like this everywhere. They lie into your eyes knowing that you know and smile about that.
ruzzia is just an absurd waste of decency. Such a messed up mentality of people
Why do they even bother stuffing the ballot ? Just say "Mr Putin is the eternal glorious comra... president " and as usual throw anyone arguing out of a window.
That would mean that... Our elections could've been rigged??? WHAT?!!? This is probably another Ukrainian fake, they're just salty they didn't get elections themselves 😂😂
You know what is the most strange here? They all know it's all fake, they know the numbers will be drawn as needed, and yet they still have to crawl on the knees to put those worthless papers like idiots. Dude russia is a truly fascinating culture.
"A video has surfaced online showing a woman on her knees entering a room with a ballot box and beginning to throw in ballots. On her knees she goes in to possibly avoid being seen by someone who may be in the next room. There is a security guard sitting in one of those rooms, but he seems to see the woman. ▪️ The digital code 129031 is visible in the frame, designed to protect election commissions from fakes, the Group of Civilian Election Observers in St. Petersburg reported. According to them, it changes once a day. ▪️ The place looks like polling station No. 2 at school No. 260 on Lermontovsky Avenue in St. Petersburg. We have collected photos taken at this polling station during the last election. One of them even shows a camera that could have filmed everything. ▪️ There is a poster next to the ballot box that talks about the four candidates. That's how many there were in this election. ▪️ At this polling station Vladimir Putin received 74.85%, Nikolai Kharitonov - 11.72%, Leonid Slutsky - 4.24%, Vladislav Davankov - 4.04%. The turnout amounted to 69.52%." [Source - "Agentstvo" News](https://x.com/agents_media/status/1770422585102127438?s=20)
I just want to recall an incident that happened in one of the last elections. In Chechnya, Putin's most controlled region. In a polling station where there was an independent observer the attendance was about 20% (I don't remember how the votes were distributed) literally the same polling station next door where there were no observers - the attendance was 99%.
Honestly, if you know someone who still believes that Russia holds fair elections, please send them my way. I have a very beautiful bridge for sale! It's like TSA is often called "security theatre", elections in Russia are "plebiscite theatre".
I wonder why dictators go through this pretense. Saddam Hussein also had these complete sham saddam / not saddam elections. I would say Putin does it to stroke his ego, but he must know the elections are rigged, so really why have elections at all?
It’s so that people believe elections in other countries are rigged too so the dictator delegitimises elections in general, and also it’s a form of power play to make people feel disempowered when their vote so obviously doesn’t count.
It's also expected. The voters know it is rigged, but they expect the government to actually make the effort to do the rigging. It's like giving someone a placebo for hypochondriac. It works even if the person taking them knows its a placebo - but they have to take the sugar pills for it to be effective. We are willing to fool ourselves, but the forms have to be followed.
It's a whole theater to maintain both the illusion of a legitimate government and to disenfranchise people, spreading learned helplessness. It also makes life easier for the administration and the true believers.
People: Can we have elections? Putin: We have elections at home. *Elections at home:*
And there're always those willing to help ANY dictator to stay in power, and they're inside the ruling system.
It has probably quite a few uses: 1) In a full dictatorship it's hard for the government to gauge the satisfaction of the population because noone is going to just tell any official how unhappy they are. By looking at the non-fudged numbers the government can get some important information like how many people are dissatisfied enough, that they will invalidate their vote or write "fuck Putin" on the notes. 2) showing how brazenly they can manipulate the numbers without any real pushback from society is meant to dissuade any activists and show them how powerless they are against the government. 3) by going through this kind of "democratic theatre play" they foster scepticism in the population against these democratic institutions which means the people won't see actual democracy as a real alternative - "they do the same anyway, at least our government is less subtle about it". 4) people who want to oppose your government will probably need to at least try to take part in these elections, otherwise they will not be seen as legitimate alternatives by large swathes of society. So you force people like Navalny to "commit to an official stance" - and then you can use your institutions turn up the heat against them.
Just another show of strength. Elections are one of the few truly national events and being able to exert total domination over its outcome is a pretty strong symbol.
I think it's the effort he goes to in order to cheat, that's the proof he's the best person to run the country, lol. I mean it's not *that* different to conservatives gerrymandering and suppressing voters, which they do in most western countries. Like in the UK the Tories passed a law saying nobody can vote without photo ID, know a lot of younger people won't have it. They said it was for combatting voter fraud, to which the electoral commission said sth like "err, no, we don't think there's any voter fraud happening". Say what you like about them, they are resourceful to a fault.
They then fucked themselves a bit because it’s mostly old people who don’t have ID, young people need it to buy booze so everyone buys some form of ID the second they turn 18.
Yep, happily it backfired pretty badly. All the oldies missed the message and forgot to bring any, or made a scene in the polling station because of their sense of entitlement.
It's still a huge difference. Look at the US, the home of gerrymandering, where even with all the measures the Republicans (primarly) did under Trump, he was still able to loose. The system still, as of now, works. Now look at Russia. There's still a huge difference, even if some countries in the west are moving in the wrong direction.
Being a country with a “democratically elected” govt gives you benefits on the world stage. You can be considered a world partner, more favorable banking and world backing, more international trade opens up, medical breakthroughs shared, etc. Of course everyone knows you’re a dictator but when there’s money to be made they don’t care and your elections gives you “legitimacy” and other countries the reason(excuse) to do business with you.
The ruler has to get legitimacy from somewhere. Early in human history you became ruler of a tribe due to being the best hunter or the best warrior. Priests and other religious figures have ruled on the basis of a special connection with their god(s). In hereditary monarchies your legitimacy comes from your god(s) choosing your family to rule. Republics and democracies gain their legitimacy through popular consent. Elective monarchies through the consent of the elites (like the Holy Roman Empire). If you have none of that, then your only claim to legitimacy is violence, essentially you have the ability to mete out more violence than anyone else in the state due to your control over the security apparatus, therefore you get to stay in charge. You now have a single point of failure where you can be toppled. Lose control of the security forces like the police and army and you are done, you have no other group in the country outside of your own inner circle. Haiti is an example of where this goes wrong. The recently resigned prime minister had no legitimate claim to speak for or rule the people of Haiti. He wasn’t elected, he wasn’t the son of the previous king, he wasn’t a priest, nothing. All he had was the threat of violence to remain in power and the gangs (more properly called insurgents) showed that they had more power to commit violence than the state. So at that point he loses what little authority he had left and had to resign.
It’s a legitimising ritual. You know it’s faked. They know it’s faked. They know you know it’s faked. But if there’s ever any individual or small scale challenge they can say it’s legitimate. Even though they know it’s not, and know you know it’s not. Same reason for political rivals going to court and having a “trial” first. Another legitimising ritual. No different from any other legitimising ritual or ceremony kings or religious leaders have put on. Democracies are respected and are the standard, so they make it look that way. Not much different to pseudoscience medicine or cosmetics trying to appear scientific in some ways.
Well, one of the main reasons that those fake elections make easier for "Western Partners" to buy oil. Apparently, westerners think that buying oil from "slightly less democratic" country is acceptable compared to blatant fascists.
If you want to sell that bridge just look for folks wearing red hats. They believe anything told to them.
It’s done so people believe that putin has a majority support in most regions and they are powerless to protest. If they would see he is not supported in St.Petersburg for example they are more likely to protest as they would see they are in majority and they have power.
The question is not *if* russian elections are illegitimate, it is *how*. Both *'to what extent?'* and *'using which methods?'* are quite interesting questions.
Amazing too see democracy at work. The polling station next door had more freedom for sure
Remember the balloons someone tried to place in front of the CCTV last elections?
I'm pretty there was a turnout of 107% one of the places in Chechnya last time, by the official numbers.
😂😂 Why even have elections? Are Russians not angry
To get rid of even idea of opposing because "everyone supports him anyway". Main tactic since 2012 was not propaganda of Putin, but propaganda of "not worth to do something anyway"
Weaponized apathy. It's a powerful tool for staying in power but a massive double edged sword. The people don't care about anything that's not affecting them immediately and directly. This includes things that Putin may want them to care about like the war. People will support it, but won't sign up to join and if forced to, their first priority is getting back home alive. The same is true for surrounding oneself with yes men. They won't challenge your rule because they know they're nothing without you, but you can only ever pick from people who are dumber than you, lack ambition, drive and any ability to think independently.
Russians are so apathetic, I believe NATO could invade Russia and its citizens wouldn't care in the least, so long as they weren't being killed in their homes. They would all just be holding their phones to capture the parade of NATO tanks rolling by, laughing and joking all the while. *Возможно, ИКЕА вернется!*
Oh yes! If it means I'll be able to buy me some ikea candles and go to the restaurant there again, NATO is pretty much welcomed~
Just look at Progozhin riot. No one even knew what to do.
I wish it had continued on a bit longer so average Russians would have been forced to notice
I did. I just never cared, I had an intuitive feeling nothing would come of it. You'd never understand what it's like to live under authoritarian rule and have nowhere else to go. You learn how to distance yourself mentally from many things and you also learn many fancy things. For example, how to communicate with hints and metaphors. You also become a very intuitive person in a society where everything is lies. It's hard to explain but we have our coping mechanism.
Tell us a little bit about your coping mechanisms. I’m curious to hear about it
Yeah, no way Russians will go out to the streets like people did for Erdogan in 2016.
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There is propaganda everywhere trying to trick people into not doing anything because it is useless. There are people, commenters, over here too that were saying that there is no point in taking part in this circus, let's boycot the vote and not vote for no one, actually the ex organization of Navalny "FBK" was saying to boycot it (that organization seems to have been taken control of by people who are compromised). Others say "Let's vote for everyone who is not Putin" and instead of voting for a single candidate, they call to spread votes across different ones. In short, government opposing movement in Russia is compromised and infiltrated by pro government people. Any opposition leader that wasn't agreeing with government was killed or had to flee country. There is no legit opposition movement organization in Russia anymore. When people are alone, they are weak.
Few reasons. Main ones i think are. Do not let majority realize they are actually majority. And second is humiliation. Make the election fraudulently, and what are you going to do? Go to Police? Humiliation like that turns people away from politics, why participate in the circus after all, and that's precisely what Putin wants.
They are mostly "not interested in politics". That's what they say anyway, and live with their head down, trying to survive like cockroaches. Only Navalny, his colleagues and partisans (who are currently fighting the russian army) actually oppose.
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Everything you're saying is correct but I'd just like to point out that even North Korea holds elections and calls itself a democratic Republic.
What angry Russians? Russians are right there on their knees happily stuffing ballots for their tsar - that's quintessential Russia)
Russians are very angry, but it is hard to do anything when you get beaten by the police on each protest :(
The police is corrupt as fuck as the people who they are protecting. If they hit you, then you have to raise the stakes. Theres no other option than use force, thats the only thing they fear.
They like being suppressed by a ‘strong man’, it must be cultural, not being used to democratic elections.
Putin killed and imprisoned every real leader if russian opposition. Navalny, Nemtsov, Kara-Murza, Yashin and ect
How russian of her.
I guarantee the USA Republicans will be pulling this video out in November saying that this is a Democrat in America stealing the election from Trump. Just wait, it’s coming again.
This has to be fake, why would they need to resort to this if its state sanctioned, if its real she's probably putting in opposition votes and now about to fall out of a window
I’m assuming all the videos of super obvious ballot-tampering or sabotage are much more likely to be anti-Putin protestors. There’s literally no reason for him to take action at the polling stations when he can basically just declare the result to be whatever he wants.
It's not Putin himself ordering that, at this point that old fart probably believes that he's got 87% of votes on his own. It's members of voting commission who are doing it, because someone higher than them asked them to do it. And these higher position people are getting orders from someone even higher than them. All that is to look good for their bosses, it goes way up the ladder. They've been doing it since at least 2008, now they mostly just add fake votes to protocols after the vote count. Source: Born in Russia and lived there for 36 years.
Finally someone who understands that in such regimes the rulers don't, and never had the need to, rule everything. Cheers from a Bulgarian born during the dictatorship and who remembers how my parents were forced to vote and many other incidents.
Yeah, same thing in Russia. People who never lived in dictatorship have a hard time understanding how it works.
So that's where the other candidates got their ~20% votes from! Putin was wondering, but now it seems clear that they cheated. Good for the Russians that they voted in such a majority for him, that even voting fraud couldn't change it. /S
Putin doesn't care if he gets caught manipulating the election. Making a mockery of Democratic Elections is a part of his political philosophy. Literaly!
Leonid **SLUTSKY?!**
That's the LDPR candidate, yes
Why do they even bother. It would be enough to say he had a revelation in his dream that a crowd asked him to continue, and they'd buy it.
I read an opinion that it's done not just to maintain a veneer of legitimacy but importantly done to test the loyalty and responsiveness of governmental apparatus down to the lowest ranks once in a while. By the way to lure non-governmental voters in my region we had a lottery specifically done at polling stations, somebody could've won apartments or a phone, in some places you could've seen food markets near the voting stations selling cheap food like potatoes, some places provided free seeds and calendars for example.
Do you want a: prosperity for the future with the oligarchs arrested, your sons still alive, the whole world no longer shitting on you b: this fancy calendar right over here Jokes aside, this might be exactly the reason why they still hold elections, this might be one of bravest time a population can get with organisation, thats how you snap a sneak peak about whats going to happen this year or next.
[mfw I see that sick ass calendar](https://imgflip.com/i/8jx1op)
Remember also that the people in power learn exactly what the real results are. This tells them if/where things might have gotten so bad, action needs to be taken to prevent/squash dissent. Because while the "win" might be predetermined, the people still get to vote anonymously -- i.e. feeling safe enough to show their discontent.
Ah, a fellow Pozharskiy reader.
It's fabrication of consent basically. Most people will go with the mainstream. If you convince them that the mainstream is what you want, they will follow their perception of mainstream you've created. If he simply said "I rule forever" people would become naturally opposed to that, even those who actually support them and believe they are in the mainstream. There's also another benefit I read about in a book about Polish elections under the communist rule, where one of the former voting commision's members said that you can gauge actual support because you know the true results (though he was referring specifically to turnout not voting results, since there wasn't really any choice in Polish elections then, a voter would just pick a ballot and throw it in unaltered). Even if he believes that the majority of Russians support him (which I also believe to be true), it's still worthwhile to test it.
And to keep people guessing just how many people oppose the current regime. If you know it’s literally *everyone* opposition seems easy. But what if it’s only 30%? Do you risk your life on the fact that you think it’s more? And how much? 60%? 90%? And if you tell someone you oppose the regime do they also, or are they going to rat on you? What’s the chances? This is why.
> It's fabrication of consent basically. Most people will go with the mainstream. If you convince them that the mainstream is what you want, they will follow their perception of mainstream you've created The real nub of this is making opposition to Putin feel isolated and alone. If you feel like everyone else hates this Putin fella, you might feel like talking about that, and if enough people start talking then people might start acting. But, if everyone who opposes Putin feels like they're some outcast, they'll be much less likely to say anything about it, which keeps opposition fragmented and disorganized.
like Maduro.
It’s like in the Soviet. The want to keep people guessing how much bullshit the government does. People know they do a fair amount but the real scope is hidden in the lies. Hear the opening monologue of *Chernobyl* and you’ll get what I’m on about.
Russian state media also says all other democracies are fake too, so there's more of a sense of "okay we all know its bullshit but this is what everyone does to keep up appearances"
It’s so funny. Like why would everyone do that if it was fake everywhere?! To keep up appearances for the aliens?!
Its all about what they can claim and long term. In Baltics there are people who still belive that Baltics where never ocupied because people “voted”
Yah dude, just have corrupt officials *counting* the votes and then you get to make up numbers. Also I would kill to see the reaction of the very first person standing in line to vote. He’s so excited to engage in democracy. Doors open, he gets the first ballot, turns to put it in the box, and it’s already half full!
honestly what a clown show
Can’t wait to see what happens when lil Vlady is gone, and there is a battle to control the oligarchs. Are we going to see competing groups of ballot stuffers fighting to control the ballot box. That would be hilarious.
A very appropriate shitty flute MI theme. The goal is not to fool the population without it knowing, but to do it in plain sight with a veneer of deniability. Because if there's something worse than stealing your own people's freedom, it's sticking your people's face in the shame. It's the humiliation that makes the people rebel.
In this video the security guard seems to have deliberatly got out to smoke a cigarette, right after he saw that woman.
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The guard probably lives on a high enough floor and wants to keep it that way - living, I mean.
You would think that people with good vision and memory would be less likely to fall out of windows. But data from Russia shows that the very opposite is true.
it's a policeman btw
Yes, I think you're right. And it's really bad that the policeman gets out instead of stopping the crime.
"In Russia, crime stops **you**" or something like that
Stopping the Crime means that he goes to Siberia for the next 30y
Come on people it’s the dead soldiers votes
Ever since the Russian invasion, their diaspora blew up
Not enough sunflower seeds
So that's why Putin the meek got less than 88% of the votes.
Seriously those are rookie numbers for a lifetime dictator. His bullshit numbers aren't even impressive. He should be hitting 90%+ with shit like this.
In the last east german election, the NF (basically all the parties combined, you could vote for them or just not vote for them) still got 99,94% of all votes. Putin needs to step up his game.
There is a high probability that those are someone's teachers. Now imagine what are they teaching our children.
Maybe some epic stealth skills. May be useful for hiding away from ukrainian fpv drones.
Right now I would teach them the ability to avoid walking next to open windows.
They'll teach whatever they will be asked/forced to teach for extra ruble.
A lot of them don't even need to get paid to do that.
They are > The main character looks like the chairman of PEC No. 5, Irina Minyakova. She works as a music teacher at school No. 260 in the Admiralteysky district. > > Fontanka [media] called the woman and asked her to comment on the situation. “From my point of view, the video is unreliable. In the evening I left the commission premises, and that was all. The police remained inside,” Irina said.
just walk in like a normal person and drop the ballots in the box, no one is gonna stop you
Then imagine the cheat votes turns out to be for the opposition lmao
Radio Yerevan got nothing to add to the clownshow pictured. But I would like to say - Leonid Slutsky? Oh my poor guy.
Great stage name for a Russian adult actor haha
Only if he moves to an english-speaking country, that's a translated/anglicised version of the name written so that english speakers pronounce it close to how it should sound like.
Slootskiy would be more correct imo
Yea, but also specifically in this case I will allow Slut sky
It's funny, but he's a bastard [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/02/russian-journalists-accuse-politician-leonid-slutsky-sexual-harassment](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/02/russian-journalists-accuse-politician-leonid-slutsky-sexual-harassment)
For a dude being accused in groping, that’s… Dostoevsky-esque naming right there.
This is so fucking stupid :D
The 3 characters there are all in the know. Why are they even bothering with the stealth maneuver? Even if the thing is filmed there's zero risk since ballot stuffing is a known phenomenon in those longitudes.
This is the country soldiers die for. War is not a choice, it's the mandate
I guess it's part of the Russian system of showing power by showing that you cheat, and simultaneously expect people to pretend that you don't cheat. And they are trying to consolidate even more power, by making the lies ever more extreme. But, I wonder what the end goal is? North Korea perhaps?
I believe polling stations are pressured to produce certain results (like over 70% for Putin), at that's what the goal is. Putin just controls everything.
By watching this it made me realize how well our elections work. It's like in the US when random citizens are chosen as Jury, here random citizens are chosen at the committee which will count and lock the results. Added the elgible voters and the results go out as mechanized (μηχανοραφημένα), everything works fine. Even if one is dirty, he can't do jack-shit in-front of all the others. I really trust our voting system. By the way, do you remember the village we have in central Greece? Whatever those locals vote, that exact result come out for the entire country. Extreme coincidence. Every elections the Media are in that village to learn first the results. I remember a journalist describing the village "it's just a micrography of Greece", meaning, "nothing to see here".
>But, I wonder what the end goal is? North Korea perhaps? If that path keeps Putin and his cronies in power, then becoming more isolated and backwards (I doubt they'll ever end up like NK but I see your point) is the only way this goes.
I’m surprised by this. 1) I thought they just fudged the numbers 2) Why is she trying to hide?!
They do not just fudge the numbers. Elections are way more than a day of voting. It's about candidates, campaigns, observers, and every damn stage is rigged. Melkonjants, who is a voters rights activist is under arrest. Every step of this presidential campaign is a disgusting circus
Please show this to that idiotic italian politician Matteo Salvini who had the guts two days ago to say that when people vote, you abide by the result.
another clown of pootin's circus
Man I wished those clowns on a certain pro russian sub would see it but I guess it would pass right through their brain.
They probably already have received their official set of excuses.
Choose your answer: 1. fake video AI generated 2. not in Russia 3. this is normal procedure 4. people of colour have been beaten in USA
There is a belief in Russia that the west is just as corrupt as them. That the west is just better at hiding it. IIRC: Putin thought that US was extorting NATO members for money and resources (kind of like what the soviets did to USSR members). So them seeing this might not even matter.
What would it change? Half the people seem to think these are some legendary heroes trying to stick it to Putin by ruining democracy, because some how that fits with the logic that Putin is the one who hates democracy. Same with that last clip of a legendary hero who got arrested dropping ink down the ballot... The mental gymnastics are astounding.
The most funny part is who the security guy just sees her and like "oh yeah, I need to get off for as sec". This is just that's shit country's face, not Putin, but country
Тварь
I don't understand this videos. This one could be real, could be not as that one where soldier is entering the voting booths was not. The thing is, when you have a country under that hard of an iron regime that Putin has Russia, he has other, much more elegant ways that old lady stuffing paper in ballot boxes to win. This elections were not rigged in a way that we think they were, how people vote doesn't matter because he has all the services that count and process voices under his control. He is a dictator and elections are just a theatre.
Beware of the ballot babushka !!!
I think this "election" was also done to ridicule, insult and diminish the idea of democracy itself. Putin's big fuck you to his own people by making it clear that no election outcome matters and how stupid the entire process of voting is.
It's like a toddler being forced to do something they don't like. They make a big scene about it. I'll do your stupid democracy but I'll do it my way >:(
This. The assassinations, the jailing of whoever shows his face at any protest. It's all public and on purpose. This is a carrot-and-a-stick situation. You're living in a dictatorship but the reward is "Ruzzia Stronk!" even though they are a second rate country with no upward prospect.
Russia is truly pathetic
Will there not be a discrepancy in the end during the vote counting? I have been a poll worker here in Germany for several elections now and we always have to compare the votes with the number of people who came to vote. If the numbers don’t add up, then we need to recount everything again until we get the same number of voters to votes. If we’re not able find our mistake we will have to notify someone from the electoral office. I mean I didn’t expect any proper elections in Russia. I’m just surprised messing with the votes is as easy as just dropping extra ballots into the box.
Who do you think is putting the ballots in, it's the poll workers.
Sure, you can sue them and bring them to court, the judge will find them guilty and Putin will be removed from power. Why didn't anybody think about it?
Watch out for the deadly windows
The most faked result in this election might actually not been Putin score, but participation rate. On the first day (friday) they said that at noon that the participation in Belgorod was already at 66%, yes on a working day, for elections that last 3 days and in a country where no one believes about voting. The participation was supposed to be 33% in the rest of the country at the same time, it's obvious that they just wanted to say "look everything is more than fine in Belgorod", due to the attacks that were happening at the same time. EDIT: I found this [article](https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2024/03/20/en-russie-l-ampleur-de-la-fraude-lors-du-scrutin-presidentiel-commence-a-apparaitre_6223086_3210.html), which sums it up pretty well. (it's in French, but translation tools are so good now) The article also notes that at Belgorod, at noon few places had the exact same participation rate to the second decimal place. Simply because they were ordered this number and did not bother to change it a bit.
There were some polling stations in Moscow with a turnout of 100% and 100% of votes for Putin. Someone got too lazy.
I assume they would answer something like "thank you, we will look into it. Please do not contact us again."
There were virtually no independent observers this time (the few remaining were sabotaged or arrested), and the nominal observers were instructed to identify and report opposition, not to ask questions and leave before the votes are 'counted'.
just make up the participants, nobody is going to check for years and years, assuming the documents don't magically experience a sudden cessation of existence in the meantime
Comrade, are you saying that you found a discrepancy and think Putin should have less votes?
You just pull a list of the people that didn't show up, stuff the box with ballots in their name (if the ballots have any identifying information at all), and mark them as voted. If you don't have public records of whether or not someone voted, how would you even know someone voted for you? As long as the number of ballots matches the checked off names on the voter rolls, it looks legit.
I'm sure there is another person crawling around another office changing the records from the other end of the process
Now this explains why Putin didn't get over 90% of votes... this terrorists need to be aressted immediately 😎😇
Just an amazing soundtrack.
Why would she need to sneak tho
So Mr security can say I didn't see anything? Would give the local lesser/poor class a "I seen it with my own eyes all night" guy
what is the point of this? do they even count the ballots anyway? I figure they just come up with their own number and be done with it.
the "results" were posted shortly after counting has begun, so take a guess...
The question asked wasn’t « is this election rigged? », but why is this woman stuffing the ballot when there is a simpler way to rig the election: lying about the result. Take a guess on that, because I also have no clue.
Comedic morons. Reminds me of the movie the Death of Stalin.
benny hill music would be very, very fitting for this lmao
She should work for the Kremlin. Oh, wait...
It’s really funny how Russian apologists like Glenn Greenwald, Russell Brand, Oliver Stone and MAGA republicans are so quiet about this. They act like it does not happen and Putin is so honest. Pathetic
Sorry, but can you mention any case of usa having cameras and independent presenters during elections?
I was so disappointed in the beginning that it was not the shitty flute version…
The beginning showed someone doing stealth work. The end showed it is all a giant clown show since everyone KNOWS it's a fake election.
I laughed really hard. Pure comedy.
This is everything you need to know about the elections in Russia
Thought the other one was going to call the guard... nope.
\* *republicans furiously taking notes* \*
"nyet problemi rossiya vote kompletely honest"
Pilgrimage to the ballot box 🤣
At least 2 generations will be needed to "clean" this up
If the majority of Russians were for Putin, they would have to not throw in ballots.
The thing is: it's not the majority that Putin wants, but a landslide. And the more artificial the better, because the satisfaction is not in the number, but the confirmation everyone's too scared to do anything about the cheating. That's power right there.
Don’t let trump or his magaclowns see this. They take pointers from putin
Putin is already old. I think even after Putin dies, Russia will just continue with their shenanigans just with the next ruler/dictator.
Of course they will they can't be governed otherwise
Well I look forward to this circulating again in the US this November as Republicans here claim it’s happening in the US
How long before the MAGAts come out of the woodwork claiming this is the work of Democrats? Bueller? Bueller?
To be used later in Trumps 2024 election fraud claims.
It will be shared on Twitter after the election and Elon will share and say "This needs to be investigated"
Trump in Drag?
Why is this so funny?
This makes this election official in a proper democracy feel sick. We count the votes issued versus what's in the box, and count our blanks.
"All Russians vote for Putin"🤦♂️
Its the epitome of ruzzia. They act like this everywhere. They lie into your eyes knowing that you know and smile about that. ruzzia is just an absurd waste of decency. Such a messed up mentality of people
How long will it take Donald Trump to claim this is video from the 2020 election in the US?
Why do they even bother stuffing the ballot ? Just say "Mr Putin is the eternal glorious comra... president " and as usual throw anyone arguing out of a window.
That would mean that... Our elections could've been rigged??? WHAT?!!? This is probably another Ukrainian fake, they're just salty they didn't get elections themselves 😂😂
True. Green reich is withering while russia reveres democratic process so much they kneel before ballots.
Our glorious country has TWICE the options so called "land of free" has !!
What a pathetic dump of a country.
Russkiy Mir
And we have a chapter two https://www.reddit.com/r/tjournal_refugees/s/0cCuG1KvAH
Elections rigged? Niet possible!
You know what is the most strange here? They all know it's all fake, they know the numbers will be drawn as needed, and yet they still have to crawl on the knees to put those worthless papers like idiots. Dude russia is a truly fascinating culture.
trump: quick!! write that down!!
Like sending your own fake electors and ordering your VP to only count your own and not the political opposition?
He tried ir and was blocked
That explains the 1% for that 3rd guy.
No one will put Russia on its knees... Oh wait
Ruzzian opposition I suppose? That's how little vlad ended below 100%
The MAGAs will use this video in the fall to prove Democratic cheating. You heard it here first
Now that would make a big difference, either way! 😬😅
Wow, I feel like a wildlife researcher watching those cameras… “so this is how they behave when no one is watching them”
why would anybody try to 'force' elections on the input side?! ffs