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Joint Observer Council has no remarks so far on voting process

According to the observer, “all underline that the voting process is very transparent”

MOSCOW, December 4 (Itar-Tass) — Members of the Joint Observer Council, consisting of Russian and international representatives, have no remarks so far on process of elections to the State Duma.

“Observers, including deputies of the European Parliament and national parliaments of European Union countries as well as political scientists, visited in the morning 48 polling stations in several subjects of the Russian Federation. There are no remarks so far,” said on Sunday at a news conference in the International Information Centre “Elections-2011” representative of the Polish mission Mateus Piskorski.

According to the observer, “all underline that the voting process is very transparent”. “Nobody interfere with work of our observers; they have contacts with members of election commissions and with other observers,” Piskorski noted.

The Polish representative reported that observers of the Joint Council follow on Sunday the voting process at polling stations in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar and the Leningrad Region. “Plans provide for visits to many polling stations,” added Piskorski.

He also called attention to the fact that legislation in line with which observers operate, according to the mission’s assessment, “defines very clearly the role and tasks of international observers, guarantees a possibility for work of missions and full provision of elections with international observation”.

Another representative of the Joint Observer Council and member of the Russian Public Chamber, Georgy Fedorov, also noted that “the election campaign passes in an ordinary regime at this stage; there are no serious violations”.

The only violation, recorded by international observers, according to Fedorov, was a refusal by one of Moscow polling stations to enter its premises by the filming group of the TVC television channel. However, this situation was settled quickly after an interference of human rights activists.

Federov noted that several groups of international observers were working in Moscow and the Moscow Region; they choose routes on their own. “We contact them permanently by phone,” he added.