Russians are handed pre-marked ballot papers in favour of Putin’s party as ‘sham’ elections hit by mass fraud claims

RUSSIAN voters are being handed pre-marked ballot papers in favour of Vladimir Putin after pictures emerged of the election being “held at gunpoint”. Footage circulating on social media shows a pile of already filled ballots at a polling station in the capital city of Syktyvkar, in Russia‘s Komi Republic. St Petersburg polling-station chief Grigory Meshkovsky was seen trampling on voting papers Credit: East2West Voters were given pre-marked ballots in favour of United Russia Credit: East2West Communist Party MP Oleg Mikhailov said the slips had been marked for the ruling United Russia. For three days, 111 million people have been heading to the polls for the country’s first parliamentary election since the start of the war in Ukraine. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Fears have been rising that the results will be falsified – used by Putin as evidence of widespread public support for his war policies. Multiple incidents indicating “rigged” results have been recorded across the country. A Russian woman votes in the parliamentary elections at a polling station in Moscow Credit: Getty A member of Russia’s emergencies ministry sits under a portrait of President Vladimir Putin at a polling station in Donetsk Credit: Reuters In St Petersburg, polling-tation chief Grigory Meshkovsky was shown on camera trampling on voting papers after allegations from observers that around 100 votes had been illegally stuffed into the ballot box. Separately, a leaked video from Voronezh showed a man dropping voting slips into a ballot box. Reports have surfaced about voting slips being tampered with or going missing, as well as turnout data being falsified. Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, as well as the annexed Crimean Peninsula, were also included in the election. Most read in The Sun In the occupied Luhansk region, voters were surprised to be told that they had already voted early. “I am almost embarrassed to ask, but who did we vote for?” one voter said. Another explained that the apartment building where they are registered was destroyed in the war. “So I have no idea who voted or when. Disgraceful,” they said. People vote in Russia’s parliamentary election at a polling station in Moscow Credit: Getty A woman leaves a voting booth to cast her ballot for Russia’s parliamentary election as a Russian serviceman secures a polling station in Donetsk Credit: AFP Most expect that when the count is announced they will be shown to have voted overwhelmingly for United Russia, when in fact they did not know there was “early voting” in their area. The Ukrainian foreign ministry said the election in occupied territories “bear no resemblance to democracy”. A statement said: “This is a farce orchestrated by the occupying state… it establishes no legal grounds for extending Russian jurisdiction to any part of Ukraine’s territory. “No ‘vote’ organised by Russia at gunpoint alters internationally recognised status of these territories. Temporary occupation confers no sovereign rights upon the occupying state.” Most anti-war ‌candidates were barred from the ballot and the other major parties have consistently voted in line with the ruling United Russia on major issues. Anti-Putin partisan group ATESH reported multiple alleged transgressions at polling station. “The United Russia party leadership and its chair, Dmitry Medvedev, need to demonstrate the effectiveness of their work and report to Putin on the ‘total support’ for his policies among the people,” it said. “False reports are being given to Putin not only about ‘successes’ on the front lines, but also about domestic affairs.” Comment now