Record turnout figures and United Russia’s result in the State Duma election were achieved through extensive administrative mobilization, according to sources connected to the organization of the campaign who spoke to Meduza.
One of the outlet’s sources, a regional political consultant who worked with the presidential administration’s political bloc, described the methods used as “very dirty.”
Meduza described a system in which regions were assigned target figures, along with “corporate mobilization” of employees at state enterprises and public institutions and monitoring of workers’ participation in online voting.
The reporting does not mean Meduza established that every or most official vote counts were directly falsified. The article describes administrative mechanisms that, according to the outlet’s sources, authorities used to achieve desired turnout and support figures.
On September 25, the Central Election Commission announced the final result: United Russia won 349 of the 450 seats.