Today at 12:31
Polling stations in the United States, where residents of Russia could vote for State Duma deputies, have closed. The counting of votes is in progress. The elections were held in three cities – Washington, Houston and New York. Oleksiy Matsuka, editor-in-chief of the UA TV-channel, saw how it happened.
On the eve of the UN General Assembly, elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation were held in New York. Voting took place at a polling station, which was organized in the building of the Consulate General of Russia. People with Russian passports could come there. Many of them have two passports: the United States and the Russian Federation, since dual citizenship is permissible for Russia. People who came to vote and who are opposed to the current regime of Vladimir Putin and his team from “Yedinaya Rossiya”(“United Russia”) party voted for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. According to the logic laid down by the “Smart Voting” system proposed by opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2019, you need to vote for the strongest candidate. And close in rating to the candidate who is likely to pass from the “Yedinaya Rossiya” (“United Russia”) party. And the “Smart Voting” system offers to vote for the Communist Party in some US districts.
Leaving the polling station, Oleksiy Matsuka noted, many people negatively described their forced vote for the communists. But they had no choice – casting their vote for the Communist Party, they think they will influence the monopoly of the ruling political party in Russia, which is de facto and de jure led by Putin.
In parallel with voting, not far from the central park of New York, Navalny’s supporters came on the street to show solidarity with the political prisoner. He has been in prison for several months now. Thus, the citizens of Russia carried out an action of solidarity with Navalny, expressed their opinion about the attitude towards the current President Putin and the voting system that exists in the Russian Federation.
“We want to declare that we are against the regime that is now in our country, unfortunately. We support “Smart Voting”. This is a strategy that actually makes a difference. You can vote for “decent” candidates only in real fair elections, and not like we have there” – said the participant of the vote.
People also stressed that they do not agree with what is happening in the Russian Federation.
“This is an egregious state of affairs. We want to express our civic position. We do not agree with what is happening there. We would like to draw the attention of the world community” – said another Russian woman who came to the polling station.
The participant of the vote in a commentary to our TV-channel said that he wants the dictatorship to end and Russia to become a normal democratic state.
“The same America, the same Europe – they listen well to their voters. Put pressure on this system, shut off their oxygen, their bank accounts here” – said one of the participants.
To remind, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed a strong protest and condemns the unlawful organization and holding of elections of deputies to the State Duma of the Russian Federation on September 17-19, 2021 in the occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and forcible involvement of citizens of Ukraine with passports of Russian Federation, illegally issued in the temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Read also: Will “draw” 70%: Russian “elections” in the occupied Crimea – opinion from Moscow
