MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th June, 2020) The Moscow police launched an administrative investigation after Pavel Lobkov, a reporter with the Dozhd tv channel, said that he had been able to vote twice, at his polling station and remotely, hours after the country started to vote on constitutional amendments, the law enforcement agency said on Thursday.
Lobkov's ballot at the polling station has been already annulled, and his electronic vote will be taken into account. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission Nikolay Bulaev said that Lobkov should be administratively punished for a multiple vote attempt, and the commission's chairwoman, Ella Pamfilova, called the incident a provocation.
"The Moscow police are conducting an administrative investigation in connection with the publication of a video entitled 'How to Vote Twice' on one of the internet resources about violations of the law during a vote on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation," the Moscow office of the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, an administrative case was opened. If the investigators find that Lobkov's actions qualify as an administrative offense under Article 5.22 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, he may be fined up to 30,000 rubles ($434).
