{
  "id": 9821385,
  "title": "Here's How We Know Russia's Elections Were Fixed",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/25/heres-how-we-know-russias-elections-were-fixed",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-25T19:31:49.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Moscow Times - Opinion",
    "slug": "the-moscow-times-opinion",
    "url": "https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/09/25/heres-how-we-know-russias-elections-were-fixed-a93792"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The source material explores the allegations of election fraud in Russia, specifically targeting the United Russia party and the Kremlin's motivations behind such manipulations. The author argues that the falsifications were not solely aimed at securing a majority for United Russia, but rather to prevent any changes to the political landscape and maintain Kremlin control. The evidence presented consists of manipulated vote distributions favoring A Just Russia, with some cases of ballot stuffing and inflated voter turnout. Despite efforts to detect ballot stuffing, the Shpilkin method proves ineffective when the scale of falsification exceeds the number of honest votes. The falsification tactics seem to operate independently, with one targeting United Russia and the other A Just Russia. Observers and commission members face challenges in uncovering the fraud due to their restricted access to voter lists and the police's willingness to aid the manipulators. Overall, the source material presents a comprehensive analysis of the evidence and methods used to manipulate Russia's elections in favor of specific political parties and the Kremlin's agenda.",
  "summary": "The official data shows how the results of this year's election were manipulated — and the lack of imagination of the people doing the manipulating.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}