South Ossetia: Election fraud case opened, opposition still unhappy

Election fraud in South Ossetia

Two months after the parliamentary elections in South Ossetia, the General Prosecutor’s Office heeded the opposition’s demands and opened a criminal case under the article “falsification of voting results through ballot tampering…” However, the General Prosecutor’s Office deemed the ruling party, “Nykhaz,” as the victim in the case, not the party that filed the lawsuit, “United Ossetia.”

Despite winning the elections, “United Ossetia” considers the results to be falsified and demands a review, claiming that they actually secured more mandates than were ultimately awarded.

• One opposition party among four and many newcomers: South Ossetia’s Parliament after the elections
• Disappearing ink and silenced results: how the parliamentary elections in South Ossetia unfolded

The ‘disadvantaged’ ruling party

According to the investigation, during the parliamentary elections for the eighth convocation of the Republic of South Ossetia on June 9, 2024, at polling station No. 73 in Vladikavkaz, an unidentified person replaced the ink cartridge in a ballpoint pen with one containing disappearing ink.

As a result, the ink marks on 695 ballots disappeared, rendering them invalid.

The General Prosecutor’s Office claims that the ruling party “Nykhaz” was most affected by this issue, with 403 of their ballots being spoiled, while “United Ossetia,” which filed the lawsuit, supposedly had only 47 ballots affected:

“Preliminary examination of the invalidated ballots revealed that the top three political parties with mechanical interference and disappearing ink marks were: the political party ‘Nykhaz’ with 403 ballots, ‘People’s Party’ with 146 ballots, and ‘United Ossetia’ with 47 ballots.”

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Boycott continues

“United Ossetia” disagrees with this interpretation. The party’s Central Committee Chairman, former speaker, and parliament deputy Alan Tadtaev stated that their lawsuit highlighted three instances of violations, while the General Prosecutor’s Office only addressed one.

“However, we pointed out three episodes related to vote counting where members of the Central Election Commission violated constitutional and other election laws,” says Tadtaev, adding that the party will seek a fair decision from the Supreme Court.

He criticized the silence and disregard of election fraud by other parliamentary parties—”Nykhaz,” the People’s Party, and the Communist Party (which, according to him, secured its two mandates solely through fraud).

“United Ossetia” is boycotting the current parliament session: for the past two months, deputies from the opposition party have not attended any meetings and have not held any key parliamentary positions. The party plans to continue its boycott until the Supreme Court rules on their lawsuit, though the court date remains uncertain.

‘Presidential circus’

South Ossetian public figures also strongly disagree with the General Prosecutor’s position. In one Telegram channel, General Prosecutor Grigory Sobaev’s statements were labeled a circus orchestrated by president Alan Gagloev.

“They [Gagloev and his associates] are not satisfied with the stolen elections—they now seek to legitimize their brazen theft. While the people continue to neglect their future, spineless characters like Gagloev and Sobaev will keep playing their games, treating citizens as faceless masses. The people are not slaves, and it’s time for everyone to understand that!“—the channel’s authors express their outrage.