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Three near-identical Boris Vishnevskys on St Petersburg election ballot

theguardian.com

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Re: Three near-identical Boris Vishnevskys on St Petersburg election ballot

#101

Post by gunapologist99 »

IAmEveryone wrote: post #81
grishka wrote: post #56

Why do they even go through this much trouble when they can just count votes such that Единая Россия comes out as a winner, like they did on every election I remember. They stuff ballots into boxes. They invalidate ballots with "wrong" votes. They just simply change the numbers in the protocols without anyone rechecking or recounting. Worst of all, the people who do it are usually school teachers, because polling sta…

It's terribly hard to actually falsify the vote counts across thousands of polling places. In theory, someone observing the process, as should be legal everywhere, will notice the irregularities. It's not impossible, obviously–especially if you have full control of at least anyone important. But plausible deniability suffers rather fast, and that's a valuable assets at the Putin-level of dic(tator|k)ishness.

Usually only a few polling places actually determine an election. Based on historical vote data, you'd only flip votes in the few locations where it actually matters; for example, a few counties in a few swing states, or anywhere where the votes can be cured or recounted without being observed.

It's strange that people really don't realize how easy it is to cheat; just a little bit of leverage in the right place can tip an election.

Re: Three near-identical Boris Vishnevskys on St Petersburg election ballot

#102

Post by gunapologist99 »

buybackoff wrote: post #25

Lots of discussions whether it will work or not. Same as 10k rubles payout for seniors. Likely people are not so much stupid and such things won't work per se. But in Russia there is the second step: falsify the elections and explain that people voted for a fake or for the party they hate because of the payout. A casual observer will have less questions, or there will be an "explanation".

Dirty tricks can also give actual vote rigging plausibility cover, and increase the inevitability factor.

Re: Three near-identical Boris Vishnevskys on St Petersburg election ballot

#104

Post by lostlogin »

roveo wrote: post #51
dane-pgp wrote: post #46

Do Russian ballot papers not include the name of the candidate's political party? Ideally they would also include the parties' logos, which would be required to be distinct from previously-registered logos, so that people with literacy problems could still vote confidently.

In this year's elections, many of the pro-regime candidates are registered as having no party affiliation because of the very bad ratings of United Russia party. Also, the authorities don't care about people voting confidently at all, quite the opposite. It's mandated by law though to list candidates' previous names if changed, which is done in this case. But you have to be aware of this spoiler strategy to notice, w…

> Also, the authorities don't care about people voting confidently at all, quite the opposite.

Can you explain this?

Re: Three near-identical Boris Vishnevskys on St Petersburg election ballot

#105

Post by a1369209993 »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #85
baybal2 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they will falsify anyways. It's just them getting a complete reassurance that it's at least thrice rigged. So, what is being falsified? Everything. 1. Public polls (including fake "independent" polling companies appearing out of nowhere just few months before the elections) 2. Exit polls 3. Debates (some times fake doppelganger opposition candidates are sent to debates instead of real ones!) 4. Media landscape (a…

for a second there, I thought you were writing about the US election.

Nah, US election riggers are significantly better at subtlety (or care enough to bother, at least). Hence eg the ruling party (the Democratic and Republican Party) being nominally two separate political parties.

Re: Three near-identical Boris Vishnevskys on St Petersburg election ballot

#106

Post by Grustaf »

hamilyon2 wrote: post #100

Oh, two nearly identical doppelgangers, with matching appearance, age and name? I wouldn't hesitate to follow great old russian tradition and take a loan. A few million rubles in cash here and there from those shady and unscrupulous lenders, then miss a payment or two and see what happens! A completely legal way to remind those people that Russia isn't European country yet. Nor Saint Petersburg is Miami.

> Nor Saint Petersburg is Miami

True enough. Saint Petersburg has a fantastic history, brought us some of the most important writers in history and is full of theatres, palaces and one of the best museums in the world. It's also very beautiful.

Re: Three near-identical Boris Vishnevskys on St Petersburg election ballot

#108

Post by lostlogin »

imback wrote: post #37
revolvingocelot wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A more humane solution would be NASCAR-style jumpsuits, worn by law for all government business, emblazoned with logos of their moneyed sponsors. "Ah, there's my guy, he's the one beholden to land developers." Of course, I'm not sure how that'd work in Russia. I assume at least some of the criminal masterminds who fill the role of the West's owner class have a, like, inkan [0] or something. [0] https://en.wikipedia.o…

Perhaps as a compromise, a leg band like the ones they use to track birds except with anti-tampering features and a GPS.

This would be handy, and if high ranking unelected officials could wear them too it would be good.

The various UK sagas for lockdown eye checks etc would be easier to monitor.

Re: Three near-identical Boris Vishnevskys on St Petersburg election ballot

#109

Post by lostlogin »

a1369209993 wrote: post #105
dukeofdoom wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for a second there, I thought you were writing about the US election.

Nah, US election riggers are significantly better at subtlety (or care enough to bother, at least). Hence eg the ruling party (the Democratic and Republican Party) being nominally two separate political parties.

Maybe not more subtle, but more subtle than the Russians.
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