Russian ex-human rights commissioner elected chief of Central Election Commission

MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. Russia’s former Commissioner for Human Rights Ella Pamfilova has been elected new head of the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC). The secret vote results were announced at the first meeting of the renewed CEC on Monday by chief of the counting commission Yevgeny Shevchenko.

"The voting results are as follows: Ella Pamfilova - 14, Sergey Sirotkin - 1," he said.

After that the CEC members voted for the CEC resolution on the election of the Commission’s head. CEC member Valery Kryukov, who chaired the meeting before the CEC head election, handed Pamfilova a bouquet of flowers.

According to the CEC rules of procedure, the Commission head calls and chairs CEC meetings, has overall charge of the Commission’s staff, represents CEC in relations with the country’s president and state power bodies, is the manager of funds allocated to the Commission from the federal budget.

The CEC membership has changed by 60%: nine its members of the total 15 have not been nominated for a new term. Deputy CEC chairs Stanislav Vavilov and Leonid Ivlev, secretary Nikolay Konkin, CEC members Oleg Lavrov, Yelena Dubrovina, Nina Kulyasova, Denis Panshin, Sergei Danilenko, have also left the Commission.

Boris Ebzeyev, Anton Lopatin, Valery Kryukov, Yevgeny Kolyushin, Siyabshakh Shapiyev, Maya Grishina retained their posts in CEC. Russia’s former Human Rights Commissioner Ella Pamfilova, former vice speaker of the State Duma, member of A Just Russia party Nikolai Levichev, former Duma member Valery Galchenko (United Russia party), Vasily Likhachev (Communist Party - CPRF) and Sergei Sirotkin (Liberal Democratic Party -LDPR), former member of the Federation Council upper house of parliament Nikolay Bulayev, publicist Alexander Klyukin, former deputy head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Alexander Kinev, representative of patriots of Russia in CEC Yevgeny Shevchenko have become the Commission members.

The Russian Central Election Commission is formed for a term of five years. It comprises 15 members, five of whom are endorsed by the State Duma, five - by the Federation Council, and another five - by the Russian president.

The new CEC members are to organize the State Duma elections that will be held in September 2016. For the first time after a long interval the Duma elections will have a mixed procedure: half of the deputies (225 people) will be elected in single-mandate constituencies, and half - by party lists.