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Russia’s Consulate General in San Francisco preparing vote for Russians in 8 US states

Two polling stations will be organized in the Russian Consulate General building in San Francisco. Voting will be held from 08:00 to 20:00 local time

NEW YORK, August 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Consulate General in San Francisco (California) is organizing the voting in the State Duma elections in eight states in the United States, voter turnout expected to be 10-15%, Deputy Consul General Andrei Varlamov has told TASS.

"About 24,000 Russian citizens eligible to vote are registered in the Consulate General," the diplomat said. "We have analyzed the results of the turnout at the State Duma (sixth convocation) elections and expect 10-15% to come this year."

He noted that two polling stations will be organized in the Russian Consulate General building in San Francisco. Voting will be held from 08:00 to 20:00 local time.

The Consulate General’s sphere of responsibility includes eight states: Arizona, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah. Taking into account compact settlement areas of Russian citizens, it was decided to organize mobile polling stations in Los Angeles and Sacramento (California) and Denver (Colorado). All Russian citizens aged 18 or more who have valid Russian passports can take part in the voting.

Preliminary information on the elections has been posted on the diplomatic mission’s website. "Two weeks prior to the election day we will post the appropriate information in the Russian-language print media and online media outlets," Varlamov said. "Our Consulate General and the Consulate General in Seattle, Washington, are the last places where voting will be held. We will therefore end the State Duma election process."

Elections to the 450-seat Russian State Duma will be held on September 18 under a mixed system: 225 lawmakers will be elected in one-seat constituencies and another 225 will be elected by party tickets. On June 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree setting the elections, which was published on the same day the election campaign officially got underway. In addition to the State Duma elections, 39 regions will elect their legislative assemblies, while seven constituent regions will hold direct elections of their top officials. Concurrently, municipal elections will be held in about 5,000 constituencies.