Russia (Washington Insider Magazine) -A politician in Russia has claimed that two of his election rivals have copied his name and appearance in an attempt to confuse voters.
Boris Vishnevsky, who is a Liberal Yabloko candidate, is running for election for the lower house of Russian Parliament at the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, in which he is a current seat holder.
The elections themselves are set to run between September 17 and September 19, although the campaign is proving anything but straightforward for Vishnevsky and his team.
When voters in the region come to choose their latest members of the State Duma later this month, there may be some confusion over who is who on the ballot paper.
Alongside Boris Vishnevsky will appear another two Boris Vishnevskys, not only holding the same name as him, but also dressed up to look rather like the man too.
The original Boris has labelled the copycat situation a ‘scam’ and referred to the two rival runners as his ‘doubles’.
Convinced the situation is nothing more than a ploy to trick votes into ticking the wrong box, Vishnevsky told CNN: “Of course, this is political fraud without a doubt. They seek to confuse citizens so that they take one of the fakes for the original.
“Evidently, there is no other way of preventing me [from winning].”
Vishnevsky, who is said to be one of the most dangerous opponents to Alexander Beglov, the current city governor, added: “All the other parties are Putin’s parties in different suits. They all support Putin’s policy in one way or another.”
“Apparently, my chances to win are estimated as very high, so now they have to resort to these dirty schemes. This speaks of a high assessment of my merits and of the level of my support in town. You know, this is not the way you fight weak candidates.”
Come September 17, votes will seemingly have the choice between three men only separated by their patronymic names, Vishnevsky Boris Lazarevich (65), Vishnevsky Boris Gennadievich (43), Vishnevsky Boris Ivanovich (59), the latter two running as independents.
