BISHKEK, October 4. /TASS/. All 2,338 polling stations opened at 8.00 a.m. on Sunday across Kyrgyzstan for the parliamentary elections, the Central Election Commission has said.
"Today, 36 ballot stations will also work outside the republic in 26 countries," the election authority said, adding that the majority of them will be in Russia. The voting will close at 8 p.m. local time (0200GMT).
More than 2,000 local and around 600 international observers from 70 countries will monitor the polls.
The parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan will be held for the second time in the country’s modern history on the party lists. A total of 14 political parties will fight for 120 seats in the new parliament. Local experts say some four or six of them will join the parliament.
The Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan is traditionally considered as one of the most experienced players on the country’s political arena. The Bir Bol (Unity) party, the Respublika-Ata-Jurt bloc and the Ata-Meken (Motherland) party also have good chances.
All the polling stations are equipped with special biometrical data reading devices and electronic ballot boxes, which will help avoid vote rigging, the authorities say. People, who have not taken the biometry data registration procedure, will not be allowed to the polling.
The Central Election Commission expects to get the preliminary results of the voting some 20 or 40 minutes after the polling stations are closed.
Some 2.8 million people will be eligible to vote in Kyrgyzstan. The elections will be acknowledged irrespective of the voter turnout.