Nizhny Tagil mayor announces plan to sack municipal employees who did not vote in election

The mayor of the city of Nizhny Tagil in the Sverdlovsk region in Russia’s Urals has pledged to identify and dismiss any municipal employees or public sector workers who did not vote in last weekend’s presidential election.

Vladislav Pinaev made his promise during the opening of a centre for outpatient oncological care in a local hospital, local news agency All News reported on Tuesday.

The mayor suggested that those who did not vote in the presidential election had “no place in the civil service, regardless of their qualifications.” When a local journalist from regional news website 66.ru called the mayor to confirm his earlier statement, he reportedly didn’t listen to the question and ended the call very rudely.

According to data provided by the Central Election Commission, over 6,500 polling stations across Russia processed over 100 voters per hour, independent media outlet IStories noted. Overall, the average voting rate in polling stations across Russia was just 23 people per hour.

In at least two polling stations in the Belgorod Region, Vladimir Putin received 100% of the vote with a 100% turnout, election researcher Ivan Shukshin said.