The head of the Russian Central Election Commission received a luxury apartment from the government amid election fraud

Ella Pampfilova, chair of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, received a 237-meter apartment in Moscow worth 200 million rubles (about $2.35 million) from the state free of charge. The official transferred ownership of the apartment to her granddaughter, 24-year-old Irina Kezina.

This luxury property, featuring a 70-meter living room, is located in a nine-story building on Rochdelskaya Street, built in the 2000s for top officials. The building is under round-the-clock security by the Federal Security Service, and its neighbors include Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Sberbank CEO German Gref, Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin, and former Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika.

Ella Pamfilova has headed the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation since 2016. During this time, the agency has refused to register Alexei Navalny, Boris Nadezhdin, and Katerina Duntseva as presidential candidates, and has expanded remote electronic voting, which independent analysts consider a tool for election fraud. According to estimates by electoral analyst Boris Ovchinnikov, in the most recent State Duma elections outside Moscow, the actual turnout was less than 40%, and at least 30% of the votes for the ruling party were rigged.

Source: An investigation by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK).

The three-day voting for 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, concluded on Sunday, September 20. According to the Russian Central Election Commission, voter turnout was close to 59.32%. CEC Chair Ella Pamfilova stated that the ruling “United Russia” party received 57.83% of the vote.

Thus, based on preliminary data, “United Russia” may secure a constitutional majority in the State Duma following the parliamentary elections. It could win 355 of the 450 seats.