Voting began normally in the Russian capital on Friday, with observers being present in all polling stations, said Vadim Kovalev, head of the Public Headquarters for Election Monitoring in Moscow, TASS reports.
"As many as 100% of observers are present in polling centers. We can say with confidence that Moscow is observing [the voting]," he said.
According to Kovalev, all polling stations opened on time, and observers have already informed the headquarters online that voting began as usual and is in full compliance with election norms.
In all, 11,700 observers have undergone training in Moscow where voters will elect a mayor, local legislators and councilors in 13 municipalities on September 8-10.
Residents of more than 80 Russian regions will begin to vote in elections of various levels on Friday to elect heads of regions, members of regional and municipal legislatures and four members of the State Duma, TASS reports.
For the first time, parliamentary elections will be held in the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR), as well as in the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye.
This year, more than 4,000 elections will be held across Russia. 21 regions will hold direct elections of regional heads, while 20 regions will choose regional lawmakers. Members of municipal legislatures will be elected in 17 regions. The vote for the mayor of Moscow and the governor of the Moscow Region will be among the campaign’s most prominent events. Also, members of the Russian parliament’s lower chamber, the State Duma, will be elected in four single-seat constituencies.
In the majority of regions, the vote will continue for three days. Polling stations will be open between 8:00 a.m. Friday and close at 8:00 p.m. Sunday local time.
Citizens of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, will elect deputies to their legislative assemblies for the first time under the Russian electoral laws, which have been specially adjusted to make it possible to hold elections even in the conditions of combat and shelling.
According to Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova, "the Russian Defense Ministry sent a letter to the CEC containing recommendations on the conditions under which the voting should take place and what the CEC should do."
A total of 81,000 people will participate in the elections as candidates for various posts, over 70,000 of them are members of 20 political parties, the remaining 10,000 are self-designated candidates.
