Electronic voting law for ombudsmen sparks spat in Saratov

The adoption of a regional law on introducing electronic voting for the election of commissioners for human and child rights caused a spat among deputies from United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), and Rodina.
Communist Vladimir Yesipov, explaining why he would vote against the bill, noted that he can already see very well how the deputies sitting in front of him vote, and those sitting behind the CPRF representative can see him.
The chairman of the regional duma, Alexey Antonov, responded that Yesipov could initiate a vote using paper ballots if he wanted. «But peeping is not a manly thing,» the United Russia member stated.
Rodina party member Alexander Vantsov intervened in their spat, stating that all deputies are being «peeped at and eavesdropped on» anyway. Despite the dispute, the bill was passed by a majority vote, as reported on January 28 by the regional parliament«s Telegram channel.
A similar spat between parliamentarians occurred during the discussion of the law in the committee on state building and local self-government of the regional duma. Then, Vladimir Yesipov said that the vote could only be hidden by «covering up with a jacket,» and at that moment the regional leadership is still watching the deputies.





