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Yaroslavl Elects Mayor Amid Vote Fraud Reports

© RIA Novosti . Dmitriy VinogradovYevgeny Urlashov
Yevgeny Urlashov - Sputnik International
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An opposition nominee led the runoff vote against a City Hall-affiliated candidate in the mayoral elections in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, where observers reported widespread electoral violations.

An opposition nominee led the runoff vote against a City Hall-affiliated candidate in the mayoral elections in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, where observers reported widespread electoral violations.

Lawyer Yevgeny Urlashov won 70 percent of the vote, while about 27 percent cast ballots for Yaroslavl legislator Yakov Yakushev, the city's elections commission said late Sunday after counting almost 60 percent of the vote.

The turnout in the capital of Yaroslavl region, a city of of 590,000 located 260 kilometers northeast from Moscow, stood at 40 percent two hours before the vote’s end, Regnum.ru regional news agency said. The elections had no turnout threshold.

City police confirmed more than 60 reports about violations on the 269 polling stations nationwide. A police spokesman said all reports were being investigated. He did not say in whose favor the violations were alleged to be.

More than 1,000 activists, many from outside Yaroslavl, worked as vote monitors at the Sunday elections.

The local branch of the Communist Party, which backed Urlashov along with Yabloko, A Just Russia and Patriots of Russia parties, posted on its website a set of videos allegedly documenting open vote buying at the elections. Police said it was looking into the reports.

Yakushev, who is acting mayor of Yaroslavl, called to cancel the elections over the violations, Vesti FM state radio said.

Both candidates were members of the ruling United Russia party, but Urlashov quit the party following the plane crash in Yaroslavl in September that destroyed the city’s star ice hockey team, Lokomotiv. Urlashov said he disagreed with the findings of the official investigation into the plane crash, which blamed the incident on the pilots.

Yaroslavl region voted 29 percent for United Russia at the parliamentary elections in December, which became the party’s worst showing among all 83 regions, far below its national average of 49 percent.

 

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