Video allegedly shows ballot rigging during Russian election

Complaints of election violations were increasing on Sunday as Russians voted for a new lower-house of parliament.

News website Kavpolit.com published videos which purportedly show people dropping multiple sheets of paper into ballot boxes in various polling stations of Russia’s southern Dagestan province.

A spokesman for Kavpolit told the Associated Press in phone interview that journalists working for the website filmed the video, which they said showed violations.

The voting for the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, was not expected to substantially change the distribution of power, in which the pro-Kremlin United Russia party holds an absolute majority.

But the perceived honesty of the election could be a critical factor in whether protests arise following the voting.

Massive demonstrations broke out in Moscow after the last State Duma election in 2011, unsettling authorities with their size and persistence.