The right choices: how to vote for State Duma deputies in Donbass for the first time
The first day of voting has ended in Donetsk. 633 stationary sites have been opened in the republic, while the majority of residents were able to make their choice in advance: the early stage took place from August 30 to September 17. According to preliminary estimates, by September 18, 1.5 million people — more than 75% of the population - had fulfilled their constitutional duty. According to the head of the republic Denis Pushilin, the current elections will be the final stage of the integration of Donbass into the Russian legal space. How the first voting for candidates to the State Duma in the history of the DPR is going on is in the "Izvestia" material.
The first twenty days
There is an increased number of mobile firing groups with machine guns on the streets. There is heavy security at the polling stations. Prolonged early voting in the republic was also organized for security reasons to minimize crowding at polling stations on September 18, 19 and 20.
"Regional election commissions in territories under martial law have the right to independently determine the number of days of early voting," Vladimir Vysotsky, chairman of the DPR election commission, told Izvestia. — The maximum number that can be used according to the legislation is twenty days. We decided to take all twenty and, if possible, make the greatest coverage of the population. In fact, the preliminary voting has become our main one.
On August 30, it started in military units, where separate temporary sections were formed. From September 8 to September 17, it was held among civilians, Vysotsky explained. It is noteworthy that both days coincided with significant dates for Donbass: on August 30, the region celebrated Miner's Day, and on September 8, the anniversary of liberation from the Nazi invaders.
633 mobile mobile groups (IMG) were created in the republic, each with two people. They arrived at the places, agitated fellow countrymen to participate in the elections and conducted the voting procedure itself. They carry music and megaphones to attract attention, portable ballot boxes, screens, voter list logs, and two types of ballots — federal and district.
In some cases, electoral paraphernalia had to be hidden if there was a danger of being seen from the air. In frontline cities such as Kurakhovo, Selidovo, Novogrodovka, and others, participants in field groups were given the right to act at their own discretion, not to take risks, and to be guided primarily by security measures. There were cases when on the way there they received messages that the sky was "dirty", they had to turn back.
Long-lived voters
Some VMG voters were visited at home. So, in Yasinovataya, 102-year—old Tatyana Petrovna Sukhovorina, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, a knight of the Order of the Red Star, voted in advance. In 1942, at the age of 18, she joined a partisan unit with her older sister. During one of the exits, the girl saved a wounded civilian. As part of the group, she captured the "language". I regularly went to collect intelligence data — where the Germans were standing, where the firing points were located. She was injured.
103-year-old Maria Semyonovna Shevchenko took part in the elections in Debaltseve. During the war, she worked at an evacuation hospital in Kaluga, helped rescue the wounded, and was awarded the Order "For Courage." And in Donetsk, on the first day of voting, 100-year-old Anatoly Zakharovich Karabut came to the polling station on his own. Since 1947, as an officer, he fought in Western Ukraine against Bandera, and in the Baltic States against the "forest brothers".
900 observers are monitoring the voting in the DPR. 600 volunteers provide assistance. The famous Donbass blacksmith Viktor Burduk, the creator of the forged figures park, forged a symbolic metal composition for the event, consisting of three numbers — 18, 19, 20, the purpose is to draw people's attention to voting.
Don't turn into minnows
PEC No. 199 operates in secondary school No. 5 in Donetsk. The Election Committee was named after the first head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko. In recent years, one of Alexander Vladimirovich's sons and his father have been voting here.
For visually impaired voters, there are brochures and tactile ballots in Braille format, as well as magnifying glasses at the polling station. There are ramps for wheelchair users. There are volunteers on duty at the school who are ready to help them. According to them, they are guided by the principle of "Ask first if you need help. If so, specify which one." For those who are taking part in the voting for the first time, a campaign (for all regions) "Be with the country" has been invented. The voter scans the QR code, takes a photo of himself and sends the picture to the general database, where his portrait appears on a large interactive map of Russia.
"I always come to the polls," Lilia, a pensioner, told Izvestia. — You can't turn into minnows that hide in their burrows. Or ostriches sticking their heads in the sand. We need to live actively! At any age.
Another candidate, Tamara Grigorievna, is a hereditary metallurgist. For many years she worked at the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant as an engineer. The dynasty was founded by her grandfather, who worked as a master of the 4th blast furnace before the Great Patriotic War. During the arrival of the Germans in 1941, he blew up his own and neighboring furnaces so that the enemy would not get them.
— I have children in Russia — in Moscow and Krasnodar, — says Tamara Grigorievna. "I'm here." I decided a long time ago that I would come on the very first day so that there would be fewer people to vote in peace.
According to Sergey Ivanovich, a resident of Donetsk, voting is a special process for Donetsk residents after 2014. In May, they took part in a referendum on self—determination — it was a grandiose event, everyone went to it, both old and young. In 2020, those who received Russian passports voted in a referendum on constitutional amendments: to do this, they had to go to one of the polling stations in the neighboring Rostov region for the whole day. Thousands of people went there.
Elections of deputies of the State Duma of the ninth convocation are held from September 18 to 20. Residents of new regions are taking part in them for the first time. """""""""" 10 parties are included in the election lists for the federal electoral district: "United Russia", the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party, " "Fair Russia", the Party of Pensioners for Social Justice, " "Communists of Russia", "Rodina", the Russian ecological party "Greens", "New People" and the Party of Direct Democracy.
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