On Friday, the voting process in the Russian “Doma” elections began, amid accusations of deleting the “smart voting” application, which was founded by allies of the opposition Alexei Navalny.
And the local “Russia Today” website quoted the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, as saying that “electronic voting will be used for the first time on a large scale, during the current elections, which will continue until Sunday.”
She added that “strict security measures were taken and measures were taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic, with 92 percent of the country’s electoral commission members being vaccinated.”
14 parties are competing for the 450 seats in the State Duma, according to the same source.
In turn, the American “Associated Press” agency said that the launch of the voting process comes amid accusations of deleting the “smart voting” application, which was founded by Navalny’s allies, from the companies “Apple” and “Google”.
“The app is part of a project designed by Navalny to promote the candidates most likely to defeat the Kremlin-backed candidates,” she added.
The agency noted that “Apple” and “Google” have come under pressure in recent weeks, with the authorities asking them to remove the application, saying that “failure to do so will be interpreted as election interference, with them threatening to impose fines.”
While there has been no comment from the company so far, on the issue of deleting the application, according to the agency.
At the beginning of this month, the Russian authorities announced the closure of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which was founded by the opposition Navalny, on the grounds that “it was proven that it received financial support from abroad.”
On January 17, the Russian authorities arrested Navalny, 44, upon his arrival at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, coming from Germany, where he spent 5 months for treatment.
On February 2, the judiciary sentenced Navalny to three and a half years in prison, with enforcement, in a “fraud case in which a suspended sentence had already been issued against him.”
