Putin’s Re-Election Showdown at School No. 1566 in Moscow – Update from Marino

Twelve o’clock noon, showdown at school No. 1566 on the Moscow outskirts of Marino. A showdown of a special kind. Waiting inside are the members of election commissions No. 1489 and 1490, almost all teachers over 40. And half a dozen journalists, eyed skeptically by a tiny Caucasian in black combat fatigues, the school security guard. Outside, beyond the policemen’s metal detector frame, there is a crowd of people… A good dozen people who are risking a lot here and now. And not everyone comes on time.

The double polling station in Marino has its own notoriety. Alexei Navalny used to cast his vote here. But the opposition leader is dead and is buried in the Borisow cemetery a few hundred meters away. Official Russia now has other idols. The school is called “School No. 1566 of the Memory of the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad.” And today, like in 97,000 other Russian polling stations, the “national leader” Vladimir Putin will be elected Russian President for the fifth time.

Putin’s victory is inevitable

Putin’s victory is considered inevitable; less than 80 percent yes votes would be a surprise. The three opposing candidates, loyal Duma deputies, competed in the election campaign with praise for the head of state. Even moderate opposition figures, such as Boris Nadezhdin, who advocates peace with Ukraine, were not even allowed in.

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The opposition, most of whose leaders are in exile, called on Russians to go to the polls at 12 p.m. sharp to demonstrate their resistance with crowds and queues. And with words. “I’m here because I want to end Putin’s rule,” says Sergei, 41. “I voted for Davankov.” The factory director wears a yellow hoodie and has a calm expression on his face.

Alexei Navalny previously cast his vote at polling station 1489/1490. Photo: Stefan Scholl

Vladislav Davankov is considered the most liberal of Putin spoilers. But no one in Marino has much trust in him either. “I made three crosses,” says supermarket manager Maxim. That means another invalid ballot. Sergei says he also wrote “Putin is a murderer” on his ballot. A verbal outrage – so far at least five voters have been arrested by vigilant security officers because of such entries on their ballot papers.

“I am not indifferent to the fate of my country”

The twelve o’clock midday voters also know what they are risking. “I slept in and then went to vote,” says student Alexei (20), explaining his presence at the polling station. He voted for Davankov and grins neutrally. Whether he takes part in the campaign. “I don’t take part in anything. But I am not indifferent to the fate of my country.”

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The people at the polling station know how expensive this test of courage can cost them. A tall young man with a fashionable layered hairstyle stands in front of the School of Stalingrad Heroes. The journalists here know him, an undercover investigator for the police extremism center who films on his cell phone. And all the people who entered their names on the voting lists in the minutes after 12 noon risk ending up on completely different lists of the security organs.

It was voted almost entirely in the absence of independent controllers.

Voting rights group Golos

Attempts had already been made to intimidate the 12 noon voters. The Agenstwo portal reported anonymous warnings via the messengers Signal and Telegram. They were aimed at people who had registered on platforms run by the FBK anti-corruption foundation founded by Navalny. They were accused of supporting “the ideas of an extremist organization.” And called on them to vote “calmly, without provocations and queues”.

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“You are under control, you have to obey the state”

At around 3:30 p.m. CET, the legal protection portal OWD-Info counted at least 75 arrests on Sunday. In Kazan, several voters were taken away simply because they showed up at the polling station at 12 p.m. But election observers who had raised the alarm about the stacks of ballot papers being thrown in also ended up at the police station.

And in many places, independent observers were thrown out of polling stations. “It was voted almost entirely in the absence of independent controllers,” writes the voting rights group Golos. According to online observer Alexander Issawnin, several of his colleagues who were invited by the Central Election Commission to check its electronic counting system were unable to do anything: “They were given a notebook that calculated far too slowly.”

The border regions of Belgorod and Kursk were also under heavy Ukrainian fire on Sunday, and two people were killed again in Belgorod. But in contrast to shopping centers and supermarkets, the polling stations continued to work, and when the alarm went off, the election commissions and their audience retreated to school basements.

In a shelter on Chapayev Street on Saturday, several Belgorod residents complained to a Russian reporter that they had to send their boss proof that they had actually voted that morning. But because of the shelling they would be delayed.

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At around 3:30 p.m. CET on Sunday, the authorities reported a record participation rate of 70.74 percent, and even 94 percent online. This means that the Kremlin has already achieved its first election goal, a turnout of over 70 percent. Opposition election observers spoke of massive fraud and identical turnout rates in numerous polling stations.

In contrast, the first final results from three polling stations in Khabarovsk in the Far East were rather meager: According to the Meduza portal, there were between 63 and 74.6 percent for Vladimir Putin. The region is considered politically unreliable.

Sergei, the factory boss, hopes that the showdown will still have an impact. “People can see that there are a lot of us.” From other parts of Moscow, and especially from Petersburg, there were numerous videos and photos of queues in front of the polling stations, some over a hundred meters long. Respectful achievements.

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But at 12:21 p.m. there were only two people standing in front of the detector frame of the Stalingrad Heroes School. Sergei inside asks not to photograph him. “I would like to continue working as a director,” his smile turns a little crooked. Fear has been a factor in Russia for a long time.

2024-03-17 16:21:19
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