Russia’s elections continue into day two with observers barred from polling stations, turnout topping 40%, and bears complicating voting

On the second day of Russia's elections, observers continue to face barriers at polling stations and turnout surpasses 40%, while wildlife complicates the voting process. Yulia Kuznetsova, a Green Party legislative candidate who went missing the previous day, resurfaced in a video message where she mentioned her husband's role in providing her psychological support. However, the search team remains skeptical and continues to investigate.

Ilya Yashin, another candidate, decided not to travel to Yerevan to stand in line with antiwar voters due to safety concerns. In Baikalsk, a curfew was put in place due to bears wandering into town, leading to the provision of special vehicles for voters who need to cast their ballots after 7 p.m. At polling stations, observers from Yabloko continue to be barred, causing tensions between election officials and the electoral commission.

In Perm, the Yabloko representative and a Communist Party observer were both denied access to precinct No. 3104 due to a lack of available seats. In the Leningrad region, a young woman who was previously barred from observing the election was detained by the police near precinct No. 748 in the village of Vinnitsy, allegedly for trying to disrupt the election.

In St. Petersburg, a Yabloko observer suffered a loss of consciousness after being violently detained, with police accusing him of "disobeying" orders and the precinct commission head alleging "attempted disruption."

Violations involving sealed ballot bags have also been reported, with instances of ballot trampling and discrepancies between recorded and actual voter counts. The internet experienced outages in the Sakhalin, Magadan, Kamchatka, and Chukotka regions, which were later attributed to a sabotage attempt targeting communications networks.

Election analyst Ivan Shukshin claims that turnout figures have been falsified, citing anomalous data from territorial election commissions in Dagestan, Ivanovo, and Kabardino-Balkaria. In several Russian regions, public-sector employees are reportedly being coerced into voting by using individually numbered lottery tickets, as reported by the BBC Russian Service.

Overall, as of 9 p.m. Moscow time on September 19, the Central Election Commission reported a turnout of 44.38%, while the remote electronic voting platform recorded 80% participation. A total of 4.6 million people cast early votes.