MOSCOW, January 26. /TASS/. Overseas polling stations for Russian citizens outside the country will be set up by Friday, January 26, according to the schedule plan of the election campaign approved by the Central Election Commission (CEC). The plan is to set up 370 polling stations abroad, CEC member Vasily Likhachev told TASS.
"As of today, 342 stations have already been set up, while the work with embassies is still on," he said, adding that the Central Election Commission and the Foreign Ministry expect a total of 370 polling stations to be set up outside Russia.
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Meanwhile, overseas precinct electoral commissions should be formed no earlier than before 30 days and no later than 23 days prior to election day, meaning no earlier than February 15 and no later than February 22. As exceptional cases, overseas precinct electoral commissions may be formed by March 14, the schedule plan says.
The Russian presidential election is scheduled to take place on March 18. A total of 15 contenders, including two independent ones and 13 candidates nominated by political parties, are currently taking part in the election campaign.
Earlier this week Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that 365 polling stations would be set up abroad for the presidential election. She also said that 500 observers from the European security agency OSCE were expected to monitor the election, as well as observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States, the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.