A satirical episode from Thomas Peacock's novel compared to Russian electronic voting
Sir Auran O-Tan, with tablet and laptop, controls the electronic voting for the British Parliament
In Thomas Peacock's 1817 novel Melincourt, in British Parliament under the name of Sir Oran O-Ton (sir Oran Haut-Ton) was elected orangutan. (See Thomas Love Peacock, Melincourt, London, J.M. Dent & Co, 1893, vol. 2, p. 25.)
Sir Oran O-Tone and another candidate (the elections were held in a two-mandate constituency) appeared before a meeting of voters in the town of Onevote, the vote was held by a simple show of hands that no one counted (one of the heroes of the book did vote with both hands), after which they were solemnly announced by Unoglasov's representatives in parliament.
However funny this Peacock satire may seem, the anecdotal procedure depicted by the English writer has more to do with democracy than electronic voting in Russian of the 2021 model.
Yes, the citizens of Unedoglasov voted in conditions of non-observance of the secrecy of expression of will. This is very bad. But otherwise, such elections can be considered fair.
If the number of hands for Sir Oran O-Tone and against were comparable, the townspeople could make a riot — because everyone would see the deceit and swindle. Sir Oran O-Tone could not, having lost the elections in Unanimous, refer to the fact that in the neighboring village everyone voted for him.
The electronic voting of 2021, as we know thanks to the investigations of Maxim Gongalsky, Alexander Bogachev and Petr Zhizhin published in Novaya Gazeta, and the testimonies of Nikolai Kolosov and Ilya Sukhorukov, was falsified.
In at least eight single-member constituencies in Moscow, a victory was stolen from the opposition.
We can say this with confidence based on such statistical anomalies identified during the study of the 2021 elections of the year, as a “robot dinner” (in all 15 districts at the same time!), “disappointment” of half (!) Saturday opposition voters in their choice (regardless of the district and political affiliations, Yabloko, communists, and right-wing liberals were also disappointed) and synchronous on 15 constituencies Sunday «gap» between the administrative candidates and the party in power. Taking into account the “architecture” of the system, an essential element of which is a non-public table of revotes, the authenticity of which we are offered to believe according to Artem Kostyrko, the use of revotes seems to be the most likely scenario for falsification.