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Videos from Astrakhan polling stations presented by Shein aren’t authentic

The videos have elements of editing, besides, they were published with subtitles, which also distorted their content

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, April 13 (Itar-Tass) — Videos from Astrakhan polling stations presented by former mayoral candidate Oleg Shein contain elements of editing and are not authentic, Russian Central Elections Commission Deputy Chairman Leonid Ivlev said on Friday, referring to the opinion of experts.

“The videos were posted on YouTube. They have elements of editing,” he said. “Besides, the videos were published with subtitles, which also distorted their content.”

“Hence, videos shown by Shein yesterday were not authentic to videos from web cameras installed by Rostelecom at polling stations,” he said.

United Russia candidate Mikhail Stolyarov was declared the winner of the Astrakhan mayoral election on March 4 with about 60% of votes. A Just Russia claimed the victory of its candidate, Astrakhan Regional Duma deputy Shein. Officially, his election rating stood at approximately 30%. A number of A Just Russia members, including Shein, went on a hunger strike to protest against the official election outcome. Some opposition members from Moscow joined in the protesters.

The Central Elections Commission said there was no ground to invalidate the Astrakhan mayoral election results. A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov asked Central Elections Commission Chairman Vladimir Churov for viewing videos from polling stations. Churov said he would do that together with Shein.

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