Belgorod Oblast is arguably the region that has suffered the most from the military conflict with Ukraine. Part of the oblast was even briefly occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and voting took place under wartime conditions with all their attendant restrictions and difficulties.
In total, 65.33% of voters in the region cast ballots on party lists, which is 5.5% higher than the national average, and United Russia received 59.1%, less than 1% above the national figure.
According to official data, 203,476 people, or 24.66% of those who voted, took part in early voting. A purported 60,930 voters (7.38%) used remote electronic voting (REV) in Belgorod Oblast, and United Russia was given 49.9%, which is 9.25% less than its regional average.
At the same time, analysis of the electoral statistics reveals anomalies and signs of crude falsification in a whole series of districts and cities in the oblast.
Particular attention should be paid to the fact that voting by military personnel at special polling stations without public oversight took place on a mass scale in the region. In most of these commissions, United Russia's results reached extreme levels. In 36 special commissions, 66,050 people voted, and United Russia received 64,994 votes, or 98.4%. At these 36 polling stations, United Russia obtained 13.6% of all its votes.
The most obvious rigging is found in Rakitnoye District, where across 31 polling stations the variation in results for United Russia and the other parties does not exceed 2%. Here the figures were adjusted to meet the target of giving the party of power 63%. The special PEC No. 1270 stands apart, where out of 1,017 voters, United Russia received 997 votes, or 98%.
The situation is similar in Yakovlevo District. Here, in 50 out of 54 commissions, the variation in results does not exceed 2%, and the bar for United Russia was set at 60%. In two other cases, the party of power received around 55%, and at two polling stations for the military — 98.8%.
In Belgorod the picture is much more varied: the spread of United Russia's results ranges from 99.6% to 22.6%.
In Gubkin District instructions were given to inflate the results of A Just Russia. Here, at some polling stations the SRs come first, and overall in the district they finish second and receive 15.19%, three times more than their oblast-wide average.
The border town of Shebekino, which lies six kilometres from the border with Ukraine, deserves special mention. It has been subjected to constant shelling and even partial evacuation. Here, at 18 polling stations, United Russia's results do not exceed 30%, and in some cases the Communist Party comes first. It is in Shebekino that four of the polling stations with United Russia's worst results in the entire region are located, and at PEC No. 1116 the party of power managed to get only 19.3%. At the same time, across the TEC as a whole, thanks to polling stations with military personnel and inflated results in roughly a third of commissions, the party of power receives 52.5%.
Out of 1,248 polling stations in the entire oblast, only 14 were found where United Russia lost first place. In Belgorod, at PEC No. 212, it received 27.7% and New People 29.7%. In Belgorod District, at PEC No. 268, United Russia got 27.3% and the CPRF 31%. In Gubkin District, where the results were clearly falsified in favour of A Just Russia, there were four polling stations where the party of power lost to Mironov's party. In Shebekino, United Russia lost to the CPRF at eight polling stations.