Follow the independent reporter Eva Bratlett live coverage of the historic referenda in which over 8 million people will vote on the reunification with its historic motherland, Russia. I specialize in elections, writes Eva Bartlett and continues: From what I’m seeing in this referendum, with IDs, paper ballots, & a clear chain of custody, the DPR, LPR, Kherson, Zaporozhye regions have far more fair & transparent elections than the U.S., in SPITE of attempted shelling by Ukraine. Yet the U.S media-politic calls it a sham.
MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/. Balloting in the referendums in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR) to join Russia is going ahead calmly, the heads of the DPR and LPR civic chambers said at a briefing hosted by Russia’s Civic Chamber on Friday.
“Everything is calm here, things are going normally. Over 1,000 observers are [at work],” DPR Civic Chamber Chairman Alexander Kofman pointed out. He said that his deputies were monitoring the referendum at polling stations in Russia. “Everything is calm, no incidents have been recorded so far,” Kofman noted.
LPR Civic Chamber chief Alexey Karyakin, in turn, emphasized that the voting process was proceeding calmly. According to him, the combat readiness of all units of the People’s Militia has been beefed u for the referendum and all polling stations are being guarded. “It’s totally clear to us that Ukraine is a terrorist state that won’t stop at anything. Our referendum is a pain in the neck to them so they will do everything they can to disrupt this activity,” Karyakin stressed.
The authorities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the administrations of the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, earlier decided to hold referendums on joining Russia as constituent entities. Voting is taking place in all of these territories on September 23-27.
Thousands of Kherson residents cast their ballots in referendum, says election official
“So far I can say that people keep coming. Thousands of voters in the city of Kherson [have already turned up to vote], and the situation is similar in other districts of the Kherson Region,” she said.
“On the whole, we expect voter turnout to exceed 80%, but today, it is too early to talk about turnout figures,” Zakharova added.
Voting in Zaporozhye region proceeding as scheduled, despite provocations — authorities TASS
“All polling stations in the Zaporozhye region are open. All are working as scheduled. There were several provocations in the morning. <…> But we think it is practically nothing as compared with the conditions we have been living here in,” he told journalists.
Voting has started in Donetsk, writes Eva Bartlett from the ground in Donbass.
I just went to Kalinskiy district where voting started at 8:30 am. Pretty straight forward: people show their ID, write their home address, get a ballot and cast their yes or no, behind a shield for their privacy, put the ballot in a sealed container.
Of course, western pundits have already decided this is this is sham referendum, but the people here don’t care what the west says. The west has been arming Ukraine, which is is raining bombs down on Donetsk, killing 6 people yesterday, 16 people Monday, 4 people Saturday…and thousands over the past 8 years. Enough is enough, the people are voting and don’t be surprised if the results are for the DPR to join Russia.
I specialize in elections. From what I’m seeing in this referendum, with IDs, paper ballots, & a clear chain of custody, the DPR, LPR, Kherson, Zaporozhye regions have far more fair & transparent elections than the U.S., in SPITE of attempted shelling by Ukraine. Yet the U.S media-politic calls it a sham.
Meanwhile in the US, black box voting means your vote is done on a machine owned by the subsidiary of a ghost corporation, no paper ballots, no audits, easily hacked, no ID, can vote by mail with no ballot tracking or chain of custody & you’re a terrorist for questioning this.
I was on the ground in Nicaragua when the New York Times lied, saying they were closing polling locations (false) & that their elections were a sham, but along with other journalists, we destroyed that narrative. It seems like what the US calls a “sham” is actual sovereignty.
Voting started in Donetsk. A few hours ago I went to Kalinskiy district where voting started at 8:30. Pretty straight forward: people show their ID, write their home address, get a ballot & cast their yes/no, behind a shield for their privacy, put the ballot in a sealed container
— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) September 23, 2022
I’ve now additionally visited Kievskiy and Kirovskiy districts, again seeing local residents volunteering to go around from door to door, with all the paperwork and ballots, to enable people to vote from home rather than going out to centre when Ukraine could shell. The groups I’ve seen doing this were women, by the way, putting themselves at potential risk (if Ukraine shells) for the sake of ensuring the referendum happens. They could have opted to stay home in relative safety, but didn’t. A driver in Kirovsky volunteered to take the women from the school where they work to the apartments they are visiting to enable people to vote. He refused to take any money.
Everyone I’ve spoken to is adamant about joining Russia.
I’m still on the road and it looks like will be all day, so won’t be able to post much in the way of videos until tonight when I have good internet (and time).
You can follow live reports by Eva Bartlett here on her telegram channel.
Rallies in support of Donbass, Zaporozhye, Kherson referendums held in Russia (VIDEO)