Employees of a polling station commission who stuffed ballots were exempt from criminal punishment for donating funds to "SMO fighters," as reported by the 'Voice' movement on June 27.
Olga Ivanova and Larisa Mironova, members of a polling station commission in the village of Sentsovo, admitted in court to stuffing ballots during the State Duma deputy by-elections in September 2023. Mironova worked for the Party of Growth, while Ivanova represented the Russian Ecological Party 'The Greens.'
According to the court, one woman stuffed 186 ballots, while the other gave four ballots instead of one to a voter, who subsequently acted as a witness in the criminal case. The violations were confirmed by both observers and video recordings.
"Such [violators] must be swiftly identified and punished! They are like black sheep, sorry for my language. A fly in the ointment! They spoil the work of our honest and diligent colleagues, and this is unacceptable," said Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Central Election Commission.
During the trial, the defendants mentioned donating 50,000 and 60,000 rubles to the war effort. The court found these actions sufficient to cover the damages, and the criminal cases were closed. One woman was fined 25,000 rubles, and the other 20,000 rubles.
