Election officials refuse to organise Putin vote during pandemic

HUNDREDS of election commission members are refusing to help organise the much-anticipated vote on constitutional amendments aimed at keeping Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, in power at least until 2036.

The country is still grappling with the coronavirus pandemic as it adds 8,000 to 9,000 new cases every day.

Russia has passed a special law to hold the vote in the space of seven days to minimise the risk of infection under new ad hoc rules that have been widely described as conducive to vote-rigging.

More than 300 local election commission members have signed an open letter saying they are refusing to organise a vote during a raging epidemic.

“We are not disposable goods,” the letter said. “We do not want to risk the lives of our spouses, children and parents … that is why we will not be organising the 1 July vote, and we are calling on you to join our strike.”

Mr Putin, whose current term ends in 2024, stunned the nation last week by calling the vote when Russia was seeing record-high numbers of coronavirus deaths, saying that the epidemic was on the wane. Moscow was under a strict lockdown for more than two months before Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor, on Monday lifted most of the restrictions ahead of the vote, reportedly under pressure from Mr Putin.

Analysts widely believe that the Russian leader is in a rush to see the amendments adopted before the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis is felt in the country.