Due to discovered cases of vote manipulation, the Bank of Russia has cancelled the results of the vote for the design of the back of the new 500-ruble banknote. As of yesterday, the image of Mount Elbrus was ahead of the image of "Grozny-City."
The regulator promises to review the voting conditions to prevent similar abuses in the future. New dates will be announced later.
Earlier, the nationalist organization "Russian Community" criticized the idea of depicting "Grozny-City" on the banknote, and blogger Max Divnich called for voting for Mount Elbrus.
"We have encountered numerous attempts to use technical means to inflate the number of votes for certain objects. This will prevent us from drawing objective voting results. New voting dates will be announced later. The list of symbols for voting will remain the same. Based on the analysis of all voting channels, we will propose new conditions that will eliminate the possibility of unfair actions," the Central Bank said in a statement.
Chechen Minister for National Policy Akhmed Dudayev called the early end of the "biased voting" a victory.
"I congratulate us all on the victory!!! Biased voting has been stopped. When there is such a worthy national leader as Ramzan Akhmatovich, injustice towards the Chechen people does not end," he wrote.
Earlier, Dudayev accused the Central Bank of Russia of "failing to ensure objectivity and fairness" during the online vote for the symbol of the new 500-ruble banknote dedicated to the North Caucasus Federal District.
In Chechnya, the Central Bank's decision to amend the voting rules, making voting possible only through a verified account on the Gosuslugi website, sparked outrage. According to Dudayev, the republic had shown high turnout and was taking the lead, but the Central Bank is "changing the terms of the vote it announced" and restricting access to platforms where Chechens are "gaining momentum."
The minister also stated that a wave of insults against residents of the region and attempts to discredit their participation had begun online. He blamed this on "nationalists, liberals, and foreign agents" seeking, he said, to sow discord and undermine confidence in the vote.
