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CIS observers report no fraud in Russian presidential election — mission’s head

The mission found the voting process and the vote count to be well-organized and in full compliance with Russian law

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) found no cases of fraud during the presidential election in Russia, the CIS overseeing mission’s head Ilkhom Nematov said.

"CIS observers have not reported any fraud that could affect the results of voting, the results of the election," Nematov told reporters.

The mission found the voting process and the vote count to be well-organized and in full compliance with Russian law. The Russian presidential election "was fair and democratic," the official underscored.

According to Nematov, the mission was transparent in its work in last weekend’s election. Monitors inspected around 2,000 polling stations across 28 Russian regions, he said, while in 2021, the CIS overseeing mission covered only 14 Russian regions. As many as 194 observers from CIS countries took part.

Russia held its first ever three-day presidential election on March 15-17. Voters had the option to cast their ballots online in around one-third of Russia’s regions.

According to the Central Election Commission, the incumbent Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is leading the election with 87.3% of the vote after 99.94% of the ballots have been counted.