Activists reported a scheme of election fraud in Lazarevskoye.

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The elections for the State Duma deputies in the Lazarevskoye stanitsa are accompanied by abnormal discrepancies in turnout data and the active use of remote voting, local public figures reported.

As reported by "reported various levels of voter activity, but noted that a significant portion voted early. They also noted that voters doubt their ability to influence what is happening in the country.

Public figures from Lazarevskoye told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" on September 19 that the ongoing elections to the State Duma are accompanied by mass coercion of budget employees to vote, abnormal discrepancies in turnout, and the use of remote "buses" for artificial vote padding.

Public figure Inna Pagaeva told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" that about 400,000 voters are registered in Sochi, of which about 77,000 are in Lazarevskoye. The actual voter turnout at polling stations in the Lazarevsky district, according to her, even considering the forcibly delivered budget institution employees, does not exceed 15-19% as of September 19. However, the precinct commissions have been tasked with showing a result of about 70-75% of votes cast for the ruling party.

"The difference between the real expression of will and the required figures is compensated by precincts where there is no strict control from commission members with decisive voting rights (PRG)," said public figure Nikolai to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

This is a criminal offense that requires the annulment of the ballot box or the closure of the polling station.

"At the polling station where our independent PRG monitored the process for all 15 hours, the turnout was only 105 people. But at the neighboring polling station, where there was no such control, the commission reported 756 people! I demanded to raise the registration books for issuing ballots: there are three consecutive lines without voter signatures, or everything is written in one hand. This is a criminal offense that requires the annulment of the ballot box or the closure of the polling station," Pagaeva said.

When she asked for measures to be taken, she received a call from the administration threatening to demolish the property she purchased if she did not stop. Pagaeva claims that the conversation with the official is recorded.

The main tool for mass vote padding has become remote voting and so-called "mobile points in buses". Pagaeva believes that it is physically impossible to achieve the indicators declared by the chairpersons of some election commissions. "Our independent observers, whom we managed to cover in several election commissions, go out with the ballot box for three hours and bring back only from 3 to 30 ballots. However, when the chairperson of the election commission goes out alone, he returns in an hour with 300-670 ballots! It is logically clear that he could not physically visit that many people or rewrite their data. This is a direct stuffing. Where there is no control, there are huge padding of supposedly voted people," she reported.

Ordinary members of the election commission among kindergarten and school employees admitted that they are committing fraud under direct threat of dismissal from higher management.

"Ordinary members of the election commission among kindergarten and school employees admitted that they are committing fraud under direct threat of dismissal from higher management. They told me that their institution leaders call them and directly demand the required results. And, as a rule, the demands come down the chain from top to bottom. This is a vicious system that exists year after year, and it can only be broken by having principled independent observers, of whom there are catastrophically few. But where they are present, members of the election commissions who commit crimes to avoid being fired start to panic. Then the chairpersons of the election commissions and the police get involved, who remove such observers from the polling stations by any means. When this does not work, the turnout figures and, consequently, the fraud are very low, even considering those who are forced to vote. At the same time, the people who are obliged to vote - water utility workers or teachers, educators, medical workers - are completely unconcerned about understanding that their vote determines the future of the country. They do not even delve into this process and say when they come to the election commission that they were told to come. Therefore, they do not see any direct cause-and-effect relationship between voting and the situation in the country," said public figure Oleg to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

As a lawyer, Pagaeva analyzed the documents issued by the Lazarevskoye election commission in Sochi, and according to her, identified gross legal contradictions that create a "gray zone" for manipulation. As an example, she cited documents signed by the chairperson of the Lazarevskoye election commission.

According to Decision No. 10/178 of the election commission dated August 25, 2026, early voting is introduced in premises from September 14 to 16. The document refers to Resolution No. 10/100-9 of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation on conducting elections "during the period of martial law in part of the territory of the Russian Federation." Inna Pagaeva noted that "such a legal regime of martial law has not been introduced in the Krasnodar Territory, so the very normative basis is legally void."

Decision No. 13/185 of the election commission dated September 9, 2026, transfers voting to the format of remote points in the microdistricts of Lazarevskoye, Makopse, Tikhonovka on September 19 according to the standard norms of multi-day voting.

Independent lawyer with experience in electoral campaigns Elena Didenko emphasized in a comment to a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" that "the adoption of two mutually exclusive decisions without the official cancellation of the first allows election commissions to simultaneously use two systems for accounting ballots, which opens unlimited opportunities for repeated voting, substitution of safe packages, and mass stuffing."

Didenko pointed to the emergency measures necessary to protect the results of the elections. She believes that "illegal acts must be annulled." "The regional election commission must cancel the decision of the Lazarevskoye election commission No. 10/178 as based on false information about the 'martial law'," she noted, adding that for this, a corresponding statement should be sent to the name of the chairperson of the election commission of Kuban and attach the decision of the election commission.

She also noted that there should be a ban on remote "buses". "Voting should be excluded in mobile points in large microdistricts of the city of Sochi, where there are no conditions of inaccessibility or they are created artificially," Didenko believes.

She also stated the need for strict control of safe packages. "Continuous video surveillance and physical presence of commission members with PRG during sealing, storage, and opening of safe packages for remote voting must be ensured," Didenko stated.

"The Prosecutor's Office of the Krasnodar Territory and the Investigative Committee must give a legal assessment of the facts of threats and blackmail against election commission member Pagaeva, as well as conduct an investigation into the discrepancies in signatures in the voter registration books," the lawyer also believes.

Inna Pagaeva, in turn, reported that together with other independent observers, she is preparing statements to law enforcement agencies.

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