Navalny’s team even made a compilation of various election rigging incidents this year. As humorous as the video was — with its cheerful music and accelerated movements — the scope and diversity of locations and the cynicism of the people committing these frauds was alarming.

(Source: Instagram / teamnavalny)

Here is a short list of other examples of election fraud recorded during the 2018 Russian Presidential election: Dagestan, Moscow, Tyumen, Krasnodar, Primorskyi Krai.

Who will observe the observers?

Pressure has also been put on representatives of civil society seeking to observe the elections, according to journalists and observers on the ground.

According to the Golos list of violation reports, 214 violation reports — roughly 9 percent of the more than 2,400 submitted by 17:00 UTC on March 18 — concerned interference with election observers.

The complaints varied from unhelpful officials to physical violence. In St. Petersburg, for example, an unnamed observer complained that an election official had refused to let him see the voters’ register. The Golos website indicated that a formal complaint had been made.

In Saratov, the Golos website shared a video filmed by local station Free-News Volga (fn-volga.ru) that showed a polling station official refusing to let a film crew move freely in the station. When the journalists argued that such a restriction was unlawful, the official called a policeman, who threatened the journalists with physical force (timestamp 1:35 on the video).

(Source: YouTube / fn-volga.ru)

In Makhachkala, in the southern republic of Dagestan, a mobile-phone video in a polling station appeared to show a combination of intimidation and ballot-stuffing. The video showed a group of unidentified men clustering around an apparent election observer.

(Source: YouTube / kartanarusheniy.org)

A longer video appeared to show the sequel, with the observer, shouting for the police, being taken away. While this was ongoing (timestamp 1:50), an unidentified man appeared to place a number of ballots in the urn; soon after (from timestamp 4:16), a woman apparently working in the polling station did the same.

(Source: YouTube / kartanarusheniy.org)

Also in Dagestan, the Financial Times’ Max Seddon reported seeing a group of up to 40 men dragging an election observer away, using enough force to leave visible bruises on his arm.

(Source: Twitter / @MaxSeddon)

Seddon then reported the same group dragged observers away from a nearby station, apparently without the same degree of force. Judging by the video which Seddon retweeted, this post refers to the ballot-stuffing also reported by Golos.

(Source: Twitter / @MaxSeddon)

In Sevastopol, in the Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014 despite widespread international condemnation, independent news station TV Rain reported that one of its cameramen, Vladislav Pushkarev, had been turned out of a polling station and threatened with force, after being accused of not holding the correct documentation. According to Rain’s chief editor, Pushkarev held a valid accreditation from the Central Electoral Commission, but was told that this was insufficient.

Navalny’s team manager in Siberia, Oleg Snov, tweeted that observers from the liberal Yabloko party in Kemerovo, Siberia, had largely been blocked from attending the polls.

Translated from Russian: “Mass blockage of observers in Kemerovo. Remember, Yabloko canceled its status as a trusted entity, and, even though permits which were handed out before then still have legal force, (local electoral) commissions are trying not to let people in. We managed to cover ourselves, and in the morning, @ks_pakhomova will hand out new permits to all those who weren’t allowed in.” (Source: Twitter / @OlSnov)

His colleague, Ksenia Pakhomova, tweeted a video of a polling station guard, who said that the observers had been advised to go to the Kemerovo city hall to get new permits and then come back if they were allowed.

Translated from Russian: “They’re proposing to our observers to go to the Kemerovo city administration, because it’s authorized to solve the question of them being removed from the polling station. I’m not joking. ‘If they allow it, then come back.’” (Source: Twitter / @ks_pakhomova)

The leader of the Navalny organization’s legal team, Ivan Zhdanov, tweeted that similar steps had been taken in the Khabarovsk district, and that in Komsomolsk on the Amur, all of Yabloko’s observers had been blocked.

Translated from Russian: “It’s begun. Mass prohibition of observers in the Khabarovsk region, on the pretext that Yabloko did the authorization wrong (signed by someone who wasn’t authorized). Yabloko says that it did everything right. Signature and stamp of the chair of the local team. We’re writing a complaint and organizing a handout of new permits.” (Source: Twitter / IoannZh)

Translated from Russian: “In Komsomolsk on the Amur, with this justification, they kept all the observers out.” (Source: Twitter / IoannZH)

Spoiling ballots

Some voters appeared to have responded to the pressure to go vote by turning up, and spoiling their ballots, like the unnamed Murmansk serviceman described above.

Putin critic and one-time challenger Khodorkovsky spoilt his ballot, and posted about it online.

Translated from Russian: “To those who think that there won’t be enough turnout, I have to disappoint you: part of our supporters won;t come. The Putinists aren’t listening to you. What’s important are votes ‘against’, online, with the geotag.” The handwritten note on the ballot reads, “Fed up with Putin.” (Source: Twitter / @mich261213)

Some Instagram users followed his example and posted images of their spoilt ballots online.