Voting Lottery Causes Scandal During Presidential Elections In Yakutia

The presidential elections in the Republic of Sakha last Sunday did not go without a scandal. A large group of voters from various districts of Yakutia made an attempt to enter the office of the regional Election Commission to obtain permits to vote in the regional capital, Yakutsk. The Mayor's Office of Yakutsk denied such permits to these residents of other districts. According to a statement by officers of the Prosecutor's Office, most of these people did not have a temporary residence registration and permits from their local election commissions to vote in other constituencies. According to some reports, there were about 2,000 such people. A representative of the Election Commission told the Vostok-Media news agency that these people wanted to vote in the regional capital because a lottery with prizes worth one million rubles (about $32,900) was conducted for voters there. Police detained university students suspected of distributing nationalistic leaflets in Yakutsk. The leaflets were in favor of one of the candidates for President, but the police did not give the name of this candidate.