Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1435 - 1117: Second Round of General Election_2

Chapter 1435: Chapter 1117: Second Round of General Election_2

The snow on the sidewalk was almost up to the knees, making it quite difficult to walk.

Old Vasily was leading the way, grumbling as he went: "Damn! No one came to remove the snow again today. If it were a few years back, I could understand—after all, they were paid so little, who would want to risk their life? But now those sanitation workers are getting a decent salary and yet still accustomed to being lazy. I’m going to complain to city hall about them later!"

His wife, on the other hand, didn’t mind, perhaps having gotten used to it after all these years. This is Siberia, after all!

Their eldest daughter took the opportunity to say: "I just went to Moscow a while ago, and let me tell you, the street maintenance there is so much better than here! The streets are cleaned of snow every day, spotlessly. Moscow is much bigger than our Irkutsk, but they still manage to do it. This shows the competence of Governor Rossiyana!"

Old Vasily was somewhat skeptical and questioned: "How is that possible? Moscow is so vast, to clean every street spotless, that would require so many sanitation workers!"

Before the eldest daughter could answer, the younger daughter chimed in: "What’s so impossible about that? Nowadays with the internet so developed, just go on Facebook and see the photos of Moscow streets and you’ll know. Besides, Governor Rossiyana is a big V on Facebook with tens of millions of followers!"

Old Vasily snorted at the mention, what internet, what Facebook, he didn’t want to know about any of that!

Anyone could speak their mind there, could such things be trusted?

If you really want to understand the truth of the matter, newspapers, magazines, and TV news are more reliable!

After all, those are authoritative media, and journalists have professional ethics!

But Old Vasily didn’t argue with his daughters; after all, it’s just kids talking nonsense, understandable...

...

Approaching the voting station, a man wrapped in thick cotton coats suddenly stopped Old Vasily’s family and greeted Vasily in a muffled voice, asking if they were going to vote.

Old Vasily looked at the man warily, but the other’s head and face were wrapped in thick scarves, completely obscuring his features.

He squinted his eyes and nodded, without saying a word.

The stranger also did not beat around the bush and said straight to the point: "I’m buying votes, one hundred US dollars for each vote. As long as you vote for Medvedev and then take a photo with your phone. When you’re done, just find me to collect the money!"

Old Vasily was stunned for a moment, instinctively turning his head to look at his wife and two daughters behind him.

Could there really be such a good deal?!

One hundred US dollars for a single vote!

Though there had always been gifts for voting during the General Election campaigns and Duma rotations, they usually happened before the elections, and they were generally cheap and affordable gifts, like eggs, black bread, sugar, and Vodka was already considered generous!

But he had never heard of buying votes with cash, and for such a high price at that!

Old Vasily’s wife’s eyes lit up when she heard it; she was actually planning to vote for Rossiyana, so wouldn’t that mean it was like getting a free one hundred US dollars!

Where else could you find such a good deal...

So she eagerly nodded and said: "Yes, yes, that’s no problem. Old man, help me take a photo of the ballot with your phone later, don’t forget!"

The ballots can only be collected at the voting station, where you fill them out and submit them on the spot. Naturally, this ’vote buyer’ wouldn’t dare to buy votes inside the voting station, as that would be illegal!

So they came up with this method, letting voters themselves take photos with their mobile phones to prove they indeed voted for Medvedev, and then they could collect the money with the picture...

After all, it’s already 2009, almost everyone has mobile phones, and taking photos is indeed very convenient.

The two daughters, however, were very conflicted; their idol was Rossiyana!

Now being asked to vote for Medvedev, how could that be possible...

However, the promise of a hundred US dollars for a single vote was too tempting, especially for college students like them who came from families that weren’t wealthy...

On one side was the dream, and on the other the US dollars, how to choose indeed...

Old Vasily had more experience, and asked without changing his expression: "How do we believe you? What if we all vote for... oh, Medvedev right, and we’ve taken photos, but can’t find you afterwards to get paid?"

Upon hearing this, his wife and two daughters also thought yes, that’s right, the promise was unfounded, and they were dealing with a stranger they had met halfway, truly untrustworthy.

As a result, the stranger male calmly said: "I understand, so as long as you agree, since there are four of you, I can pay a hundred dollars deposit now, and after you finish voting and taking the photos, I’ll pay the remaining three hundred dollars. I wouldn’t take a hundred US dollars to play a stupid joke with you, would I?"

Old Vasily was suddenly stunned; he hadn’t expected the man to actually be serious!

While he was still stunned there, and his daughters were still hesitating, two middle-aged men had already voted and came out of the polling station.

These two men came walking briskly towards them after exiting, stopped next to the stranger, glanced at Old Vasily and his family cautiously, then whispered to the stranger: "We’ve finished voting and taken photos, where is the money?"

While saying this, one of them took out a cellphone, fiddled with it for a moment, and showed the stranger the photo he had taken.

Clearly, these two were in the same situation as Old Vasily’s family, having met the stranger before voting and having sold their votes to him!

Old Vasily nervously watched the three men, eager to see if the transaction was truly happening.

The stranger checked the photos taken by the men, then without a word, took out a bundle of US dollars from his coat, counted two bills, and handed them to the men.

Once they received the money, the two men left the place with bright smiles, walking quickly.

They were even discussing where to go for a drink afterward...

After witnessing this scene, Old Vasily’s family finally made up their minds.

Old Vasily had already cast Chairman Grezlov to the back of his mind, what chairman, what composure and maturity, what national future, compared to hard cash of a hundred dollars!

Besides, even if his one vote was missing, Old Vasily believed that Grezlov could still win the General Election; after all, it wasn’t possible to buy off every single vote in the country.

So, them having one vote more or less wouldn’t make a difference...

As for his two daughters, after looking at each other, they let out a soft sigh, deciding they could only support their idol next time. This opportunity was too precious, that was a hundred dollars, enough to buy a budget cellphone!

Due to the family’s poor financial situation, both daughters, though attending University, still didn’t have their own cellphones.

Each time they saw classmates with cellphones, they were quite envious, but now they finally had the chance to "earn" their own phones, and compared to this, the idol had to step back for a while...

After coming to an agreement, Old Vasily asked the stranger for the hundred-dollar deposit, and only after holding the money in his hand did he eagerly lead his family to the polling station.

Inside the polling station, they verified their identities smoothly, all four unhesitatingly wrote "Medvedev’s" name on the ballot!

Then Old Vasily took out his cellphone, photographed each ballot in turn, and then left the polling station.

On exiting, they saw from a distance that the stranger was still standing by the road, which finally set their hearts at ease...

......

Scenes like this one were happening near many polling stations in the city of Irkutsk.

Obviously, someone was "targeting" Governor Rossiyana, intending to "buy off" her votes right in her strongholds!

Perhaps the total number wouldn’t be large, but the effect it could have was absolutely not minor, because the difference made by both adding and subtracting could be significant!