#14 - JRL 7282
Russia's parliamentary, 10 regional elections to be
held December 7
ITAR-TASS
August 8, 2003
Ten Russian regions, including Moscow, will elect their top executives on December 7, simultaneously with the parliamentary election, Central Election Commission Chairman Alexander Veshnyakov said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
The head of state asked about preparations for regional elections. Veshnyakov said he had proposed to time these elections with the parliamentary election, to which half of the regions agreed.
The CEC pays special attention to Karachai-Cherkessiya, which will go to the polls on August 17, and intends to send a large group of observers to the republic.
Another eight Russian regions, including St. Petersburg and Leningrad and Sverdlovsk regions, will hold elections in September and October.
Chechnya will elect its president on October 5.
"Our representatives already work in Chechnya; for example they meet with potential candidates. There are no registered candidates yet, but a dozen or more are willing /to run for Chechnya president/," Veshnyakov said.
"It is good. It means people understand the procedure of forming government through elections. It is very important here that the election is held strictly in line with law. We wish to invite foreign observers so that they could see that the Chechen government is forming legitimately," he added.
Meanwhile, Russia's political parties intend to sign an agreement on fair campaigning.
It might be possible to set up a council to monitor the implementation of such an agreement, Veshnyakov said, the relevant organizing committee has already been established. It comprises representatives of political parties, journalist associations and promotion experts.
"Our objective is to ensure legitimate elections, that is not to step over the moral line, which, unfortunately, is sometimes stepped over," Veshnyakov said.
Russia is presently completing the modernization of its GAS-Vybory electronic election system, which in many ways is expected to remove "the human factor" in vote counting.
"New equipment is supplied to all the regions. In addition, new software allows for automatic data transfer without the human factor," the chairman said.
The practice of placing voting protocols on the web sites of regional election commission within one day of ballot casting will be used for the first time in the world.
According to Veshnyakov, a comprehensive improvement of the election legislation has been completed. "We have finished all we planned to do," he said.
The objective was to boost the role of election parties and, at the same, time, make them more responsible. In addition, the authorities were aiming to eliminate the irregularities, which happened during previous elections.
"The most important thing is to create additional mechanisms for public control over the election results, in order to dispel any doubts," Veshnyakov said, adding that "these tasks have been fulfilled as regards the legal aspect."
Some parties propose the following procedure: the observers at each voting station receive the final election commission protocol in the presence of eyewitnesses. They then send it to their headquarters and, on the following day, compare it with the information published on the web site.
"In case of any mismatch, the issues can be resolved promptly and eliminate the doubts regarding the voting results," Veshnyakov stated.
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