Since February 25th, individuals, predominantly women bearing name tags and carrying extensive stacks of documents, have been canvassing every residence in the Russia-occupied sectors of four Ukrainian regions. They approach residents either at their doorsteps or outside their homes, armed with lists of voters. These canvassers, primarily women but occasionally men, serve as election officials, typically working in nearby schools, handling utility payments, or employed as government clerks.
Upon arrival, they request residents' identification and encourage them to complete early ballot forms listing four candidates for Russia's presidential election, as recounted by current and former inhabitants of the occupied territories to Al Jazeera. Among these candidates, Vladimir Putin stands as the almost-certain winner, while the remaining three contenders represent figureheads from pro-Kremlin factions, their participation seen by observers as a mere facade of choice.
Residents seldom decline to participate in the voting process, largely due to the intimidating presence of armed Russian servicemen accompanying the officials, as Al Jazeera has learned. These "voting" sessions typically occur near apartment entrances, where the election official, alongside the armed soldier, can easily oversee whose names are marked on the ballots.
“There’s no secrecy of vote,” a former resident of Mariupol told Al Jazeera, expressing concerns about the lack of privacy in the voting process and the pressure residents face to comply due to fears for their safety.
Despite this coercion, there are resistance movements mainly composed of young individuals leaking information about the presence and locations of Russian military personnel and armaments to Ukrainian intelligence services. Some locals hope that participating in the vote might offer them a chance to leave the occupied area without repercussions.
“My father-in-law had a heart attack and died. My mother-in-law’s hair turned grey because of what we had gone through. All we want is to leave and never look back,” shared Tatyana, a resident of Berdiansk in southern Ukraine, which was occupied in late February 2022, with Al Jazeera.
She and her husband opted to vote early, unsurprisingly for Putin, to avoid being targeted by the Russian-appointed authorities. They plan to cross into southern Russia and then travel to Kazakhstan, where relatives have agreed to shelter them.
However, those who refuse to vote or speak against the election have reportedly been detained and taken to makeshift prisons, known as "basements," in the Russia-occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson, according to the Eastern Human Rights Group, a Ukrainian watchdog organization.
To avoid coercion, some residents choose to keep their doors closed to election officials and refrain from visiting polling stations that opened on the first day of Russia’s three-day election period.
Observing the ongoing situation, analysts anticipate widespread vote-rigging orchestrated by Kremlin-appointed officials to inflate turnout figures and secure a significant percentage of votes for Putin.
“At the pseudo-elections, there will be maximal vote-rigging because local ‘viceroys’ will try to surpass the ‘Chechen count,'” remarked Kyiv-based analyst Aleksey Kushch to Al Jazeera, alluding to past instances of inflated turnout and overwhelming support for Putin in Chechnya.
In a bid to create a favorable narrative for state-controlled media and the Russian audience, the Kremlin employs various tactics, including staging orchestrated scenes of enthusiastic participation in the election.
Kyiv has condemned the vote in the occupied areas, denouncing it as a violation of international law and a blatant disregard for democratic principles.