Photo: Lyudmila PLOTNIKOVA
The country’s presidential elections are over. Vladimir Putin thanked all the Russians who went to the polling stations.
A KP.RU correspondent watched the voting unfold abroad, at the Russian Consulate General in New York.
Sunday promised New York police officers a little more trouble than usual. It was March 17 of this year when America’s favorite St. Patrick’s Day fell, as well as the annual New York Half Marathon. Several police teams were sent to the Russian Consulate General.
Photo: Lyudmila PLOTNIKOVA
Closer to lunch, it was necessary to urgently add several additional patrols to the Russian mission. But not because of threats of riots, but because of unprecedented electoral participation.
Residents of Manhattan’s fashionable East Side, where our diplomatic mission is located, were initially cautious: a stretch of 91st Street was fenced off with metal barriers on Sunday night. But then everyone calmed down: this is not the first time that “Russian” Americans go to the polls.
New York native Regina, who lives on East 91st Street in a house across the street from the historic mansion that once belonged to the Vanderbilt family, didn’t plan to complain about the crowds. “I remember how the Soviet diplomats moved into the Vanderbilt house and I remember the day when the red flag was replaced by the Russian tricolor flag.
As for elections, I can say that I have never seen such long lines at the polling stations on election days for an American president or a mayor of New York, but the first time I voted was in 1968, for Richard Nixon! ” he boasted to KP.RU.
“PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHICH SIDE THE TRUTH IS ON”
This year, US authorities promised to maintain order only at open polling stations at Russian diplomatic missions in Washington, New York and Houston; Previously, our diplomats gave Russian citizens the opportunity to vote in various parts of the United States: in California, Florida and even in the famous Brighton Beach. By the way, more than once or twice Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondents in the United States were members of electoral commissions in voting at different levels.
According to the most conservative estimates, there are about 150 thousand Russians with the right to vote in the United States permanently or temporarily. This year, especially, people even came from very distant states (Vermont, Illinois, Wisconsin) to vote in the Big Apple.
Photo: Lyudmila PLOTNIKOVA
The line at the New York consulate took up the entire block. At 2:00 p.m. local time, 607 voters voted in New York (in the last elections this figure was half).
Consul General of the Russian Federation in New York Alexander Zakharov explained to KP.RU the record activity of American “Russians”.
– People understand which side the historical truth is on, people have become more active in expressing their civic position, they want to participate in the strategic development of their Homeland, that is why they go to the polls, no matter what. At our request, American law enforcement took all necessary security measures. Regarding record participation, we will do everything possible to ensure that everyone who attended has the right to express their will.
“FIRST CHOICE IN LIFE”
Russian diplomats working in the electoral commission had to refuse the pauses. To increase capacity, additional voting booths were urgently installed. At 3:00 p.m., the spacious, transparent ballot box was two-thirds full of ballots.
It’s no secret that tourists and business travelers flocked to embassies and consulates for the elections, and journalists kept an eye on visiting stars. But today in the United States voting is mainly Russian compatriots, who clearly and clearly indicated the purpose of their attendance at the polls.
– These are the first Russian presidential elections in my life. – He told KP Anton, 19, that he votes with his parents. I was here a year ago when I applied for a Russian passport, which I will not refuse. My dad and mom are Russian citizens.
Mirra, 86, came from New Jersey. “I have been in the United States for a quarter of a century, but the fate of Russia, my Homeland, is not indifferent to me. “I am also not indifferent to who will lead Russia in the coming years.” – she said.
Photo: Lyudmila PLOTNIKOVA
IT IS WORTH CONSIDERING
There were also complaints and criticisms. Firstly, the impossibility of voting at the usual polling stations in Brighton (but this issue must be addressed to the American authorities). But compatriots ask Moscow to think about overcoming these shortcomings:
– I went to America from the USSR. And I applied for Russian citizenship here in the United States. I do not have an internal Russian passport, it is impossible to get it at the consulate, you just have to go to Russia.
It would seem that God knows what problem, but it is impossible to register in the same “State Services”. And in the United States there are many people like me, a whole class of us, so to speak, citizens of the Russian Federation who permanently reside abroad and do not have an internal passport,” said Marina, who attended the elections from New Jersey. , a New York resident, described the problem. – I still wanted to go to my native Murmansk, but now, for some reason, the Russian airline has blocked access to its website for those visiting from the United States…
UNCENSORED PROVOCATIONS
Was there any provocateur? Were. Although this time the iron fences seemed to many to be an excessive security measure: during the day, lone protesters sometimes appeared behind them, vigorously hiding their faces.
Probably due to the lack of at least some arguments for their position, they chanted exclusively obscene language. But among those who came to the elections were many families with small children who were forced to listen to obscenities. The police, at the request of whom I tried to translate the protest cries as correctly as possible, grimaced and were surprised that no one complained about such freedom of speech. According to them, if someone shouted something like that in English for hours, they would immediately end up in the police station.
Photo: Lyudmila PLOTNIKOVA
Read about the results of the Russian presidential elections in the KP.RU online broadcast
