With more than 95% of votes counted in the Primorye region [of Russia's Far East], the communist Andrei Ishchenko had a five-point lead. But during the night his pro-Putin rival Andrei Tarasenko overtook him.
On Facebook Mr Ishchenko urged his supporters to protest in Vladivostok, saying "our votes are being stolen".
A communist complaining of vote-rigging! That's something special.
But the probable willingness of Putin to rig an election in the Far East likely speaks to the value that the Far East has in funding Putin's aggressive foreign policy and wars.
And if people angry with Putin in the Far East gain power and oppose sucking resources from them, could they try to break up the Soviet empire a third time?
Would China intervene quietly or overtly to begin the reconquest of their portions of the Far East?
Could Russia deploy enough troops to reestablish control in the Far East in those circumstances? Well, perhaps the Russians found out.
UPDATE: Well that's pretty funny:
The Communists, who say this sort of thing happens to them all the time in distant regions, took their usual course of staging some street protests and filing a lawsuit in the local court. Even they were surprised when the Central Electoral Commission in Moscow declared that the election was marred by violations and the results must be annulled. It’s the first time in post-Soviet history that a local election has been overturned.
I'm going to guess that local officials are in trouble because Putin expects his people to rig elections with more skill and stealth than they displayed in this blatant attempt.
