United Russia turns up the heat in Murmansk

A wide variety of measures, and tricks, are being applied in the United Russia´s election campaign.

In Murmansk, like in a number of other regions, the party is reported to offer people 1500 RUB for their vote. In addition, another 250 RUB is offered for the recruitment of a friend, Blogger51.ru reveals in video.

In the same region, the deputy leader of the regional Election Commission is allegedly ready to reward her staff for contributing to good election results for the party. Marina Zhdanova promises her subordiates the reward if the United Russia wins more than 50 percent of the votes with a voter turnout of at least 70 percent, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports.

According to Rosbalt.ru, a representative of a local election committee first reported about the attemted irregularities. The Communist Party in Murmansk now demands that the prosecutor´s office in Murmansk deals with the issue.

Murmansk Oblast is among the regions considered among the weakest for United Russia. In the last State Duma elections, the party won 55.11 percent of the votes in the region, which was the 7th worst in the country.

Despite massive support from the electorate, the government-loyal party has still lost ground compared with the elections four years ago. Then, the party won more than 64 percent of the overall votes. According to the polling company WCIOM the party now is expected to win far less, about 54 percent. The Russian Public Opinion fund believes the party will win about 52 percent, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports.

Read also:Nordic observers to Duma election

The election results might have serious consequences for the leaders of the federal subjects. The regions, which prove unable to secure a sufficiently high level of support for the party, are likely to experience a reshuffle of manpower soon after the vote.

For the governors in the Russian part of the Barents Region, that is bad news. According to a ranking from the St.Petersburg Politika Fund, the governors in the region are from before among the weakest in the country. On a scale from one to five, Arkhangelsk Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk is the only of the 83 Russian regional leaders who gets the lowest rating (1), while Murmansk Governor Dmitry Dmitriyenko, along with five other regional leaders, gets a “2”. According to the expert panel of the fund, all these leaders are likely to be replaced after the State Duma elections, Newsru.com reports.

A BarentsObserver recently reported, another study shows that also head of the Republic of Karelia, Andrei Nelidov, has a low level of support.

The State Duma elections will be held on 4 December.