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Russia’s CEC says Putin’s speech at UR congress violated no election laws

CPRF appealed to the CEC and the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office against Putin’s illegal canvassing in favour of United Russia at the party congress

MOSCOW, October 21 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said on Friday Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had violated no election law delivering his speech at a congress of the ruling United Russia (UR) party on September 24.

According to earlier media reports, head of the legal service of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) Vadim Solovyov appealed to the Central Election Commission and the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office against Putin’s illegal canvassing in favour of United Russia at the party congress. The speech was aired by all federal-level TV channels, although Putin does not run for a seat in the State Duma lower parliament house.

“Canvassing by state officials is not entirely prohibited. State officials are prohibited to engage in canvassing while performing their duties. It means that if a state official is not performing his or her duties he or she is allowed to do it,” Maya Grishina, a member of the Central Election Commission, told journalists.

Speaking about the United Russia congress, she noted that it was held on a weekend day, or a day off, when Putin was not performing his office duties.

She also noted that media “footage of current activities of state officials has nothing to do with the coverage of the election campaign.”