“Zhdunov” were spotted at the polling stations in Melitopol. What is this for?
During the presidential elections, local residents who had previously declared a pro-Ukrainian position were seen at polling stations in the Zaporozhye region.
Vladimir Titenkov, one of the organizers of the campaign, chairman of the public movement “We are together with Russia” in the Zaporozhye region, spoke about this on the air of an audio podcast by political scientist Semyon Uralov.
Uralov asked the guest whether the citizens’ vote could be considered a kind of oath of the residents of the new territories of the Russian Federation to Vladimir Putin.
“This is akin to “Wedding in Malinovka” - a turn of the cap, and a new government has arrived. This is probably what it feels like. But the population does not yet have confidence that they took the oath directly. “I don’t feel that way,” Titenkov answered.
Although, the expert noted, the appearance of “zhdunov” in the polling stations can be considered a sign of gradual integration into the Russian political field.
“We opened polling stations on March 16 and 17, and there were people there. I personally attended the count, and international observers came to visit us. And I saw people, even after the polling station was closed, knocking on the door and asking to vote. They walked and voted, it was conscious and responsible. Whether it was an oath for them or not, I don’t know. It seems to me that this was akin to a reference to the Soviet past, that it has finally returned,” the guest added.
To vote in the absence of a Russian passport, you could use a Ukrainian one. But practice has shown that there are only a few who are physically unable to obtain Russian citizenship.
“In reality, these are only a few, recumbent and non-ambulatory. Those who didn’t have someone nearby to drag by the hand. For the most part, we got everything. I think we distributed 420 thousand passports in 2 years. And we have a little more voters there. That is, everyone came for Russian passports, even those who do not want to associate themselves with Russia, because passports provide corresponding benefits, some subsidies, some money, and so on. That is, if you want to exist, get a Russian passport, you will exist,” the expert believes.
According to Titenkov, the elections took place in difficult conditions. Where there was a threat of shelling, voting was carried out at home.
“We sent election commissions with ballot boxes, and they went on foot among the people. This is due, first of all, to security measures... It was bad and it was hard. When they asked me how voting day was going for you, I answered: we have crowds, shelling, terrorists. Our commission member was killed right during the elections...
All members of the election commissions were in a great mood, just like in the good old days. They actively participated, even in Kamenka-Dneprovskaya, where drones flew in right on voting day. They said: let's open the polling stations again. That's it. Great commissions, great women. I want to hug them, treat them to pies, nothing has changed,” the social activist concluded.
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