Electoral fraud in South Ossetia
Two months after the parliamentary elections in South Ossetia, the Prosecutor General’s Office followed the opposition’s demands and opened a criminal case for “falsifying the election results by manipulating the election.” However, the Prosecutor General’s Office considered the ruling party “Nykhaz” to be the victim in the case, and not the party that filed the lawsuit, “United Ossetia.”
Despite the election victory, United Ossetia believes the result was fraudulent and is demanding an investigation. In fact, the party secured more seats than were ultimately awarded.
The “disadvantaged” ruling party
According to the investigation, during the parliamentary elections for the eighth convocation of the Republic of South Ossetia on June 9, 2024, at polling station No. 73 in Vladikavkaz, an unidentified person replaced the ink cartridge in a ballpoint pen with a new one with disappearing ink.
As a result, the ink markings on 695 ballot papers disappeared, rendering them invalid.
The Prosecutor General’s Office claims that the ruling party “Nykhaz” was most affected by this problem. 403 of its ballots were invalidated. In the case of “United Ossetia”, which filed the lawsuit, only 47 ballots were affected:
“A preliminary examination of the invalid ballots showed that the three largest parties with mechanical malfunctions and missing ink stains were: the political party “Nykhaz” with 403 ballots, the “People’s Party” with 146 ballots and “United Ossetia” with 47 ballots..”
The boycott continues
United Ossetia disagrees with this interpretation. The chairman of the party’s Central Committee, former speaker and MP Alan Tadtayev stated that their complaint highlights three cases of violations, while the Prosecutor General’s Office has considered only one case.
“However, we have highlighted three incidents related to the vote count in which members of the Central Election Commission violated the Constitution and other electoral laws.“, says Tadtaev, adding that the party will seek a fair decision from the Supreme Court.
He criticized the silence and disregard of electoral fraud by other parliamentary parties – Nykhaz, the People’s Party and the Communist Party (which, in his opinion, obtained its two mandates solely through fraud).
United Ossetia is boycotting the current parliamentary session: for two months, members of the opposition party have not attended any sessions and have not held any important parliamentary positions. The party plans to continue its boycott until the Supreme Court decides on its lawsuit, but the court date is still uncertain.
“Presidential Circus”
Public figures in South Ossetia also strongly disagree with the position of the Prosecutor General. In one Telegram channel, the statements of Prosecutor General Grigory Sobaev were described as a circus staged by President Alan Gagloev.
“They (Gagloev and his associates) are not satisfied with the election fraud – they are now trying to legitimize their blatant electoral fraud. While the people continue to neglect their future, characterless figures like Gagloev and Sobaev will continue to play their games and treat the citizens like faceless masses. The people are not slaves and it is time for everyone to understand that!“ – the channel’s authors express their indignation.
