Management threatens dismissal for refusing to participate in state-directed voting
In various regions of the RF, pressure on public sector employees and staff of state-owned enterprises has increased ahead of the elections. People are being forced to support United Russia candidates under the threat of losing their jobs. This was reported by The Moscow Times, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
Employers are demanding that subordinates report their participation in the voting and provide evidence of their choice. According to the Horizontal Russia project, in many cases, this involves not just turnout but also support for specific political figures associated with the ruling party.
In the Belgorod Region, educational staff are reporting coercion to vote for a specific candidate, Alexander Shuvaev. In the Ufa District of Bashkortostan, the directors of 49 schools and kindergartens received official instructions with a list of United Russia candidates that their collectives must support.
Similar facts have been recorded in the Samara and Sverdlovsk Regions, where voters are being obliged to cast their ballots on Friday. Those who disagree with these administrative demands are being openly pressured to submit their resignations. A similar situation is observed at large industrial facilities, including Rosneft enterprises and the Motovilikha Plants.
In universities across the RF, administrations are also utilizing administrative resources. At the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutia, employees are being urged to bring relatives, while at the Novgorod State University, leadership—who are running in the elections themselves—are demanding that faculty use the remote electronic voting system.
Illustrative photo: GeoEvan (www.polgeonow.com) / CC BY 4.0
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