A new legislation has simplified the document requirements and allowed Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine to cast their vote in the Russian presidential election without even showing their faces, meaning those deceased might still be eligible for voting.
The Russian presidential election is slated to start today and will last until Sunday, where many believe the victory of incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin is a foregone conclusion.
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The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR) said the “latest instructions” from the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces meant that Russian military personnel deployed to Ukraine no longer require a passport or military ID to vote, and even a photocopy will suffice; they are also not required to be physically present at the polling stations.
The order is likely issued internally within the Russian military, and Kyiv Post is unable to independently verify the details and authenticity of the order.
Other Russians can also vote online using Russia’s electronic voting system, though some form of electronic identity verification is still required. However, this system is reportedly not being used by the Russian military.
Russians also began to complain about technical issues with the electronic voting system today.
The HUR believed the new changes in the Russian military would make it easier for Russian authorities to falsify the results and increase votes for Putin by adding the votes of those who recently died, went missing or were captured.
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“It is obvious that in this way the Russian ‘election commissions’ will try to increase the number of Putin’s voters by attracting the so-called ‘dead souls’ to the ‘voting.’ In particular, to the number of people who ‘voted,’ along with existing military personnel, they plan to add also those who recently died, went missing or were captured,” read the HUR press release.
The HUR also said the official Russian casualty rate could mean a lot more votes for Putin and questioned the legitimacy of the elections.
“The Kremlin is carrying out a whole set of measures for the fictitious holding of the so-called ‘elections of the President of the Russian Federation.’ Although it is obvious to everyone that neither the very fact of these elections nor their results are a means of legitimizing Putin’s rule either in Russia or abroad,” the announcement read.
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