MOSCOW, September 19. /TASS/. Russian Central Election Commission’s chief Ella Pamfilova has vowed harsh punishment for those guilty of vote rigging during the gubernatorial race’s runoff in the Far East’s Primorsky Region.

"We will punish everyone principally and harshly," Pamfilova told Rossiya-1’s 60 Minutes show on Wednesday, stressing that the election authority was shocked when violations occurred during the runoff’s final stage.

"It’s clear that we have to carry out a full investigation and those guilty must be punished, no matter who initiated and masterminded those mean things, which occurred during the final stage of the vote count," she stressed.

The election chief described as "an emergency" the situation when 24,500 votes from 13 polling stations were lost in Vladivostok’s Sovetsky district. "This was the reason why we recommended canceling the results of the election in the Primorsky Region."

On Thursday, the regional election commission in the Primorsky Region is due to hold a meeting to consider the CEC’s recommendation to recognize the results as invalid.

The new gubernatorial election should be held by mid-December, Pamfilova said.

The scandal flared up after the Communist Party’s candidate Andrei Ishchenko, who had a clear lead over his rival from the ruling party, Andrei Tarasenko, surprisingly lost in the last-minute vote count in the September 16 gubernatorial race’s runoff.

With 100% of the vote counted, Acting Governor Andrei Tarasenko, from the ruling United Russia party, secured 49.55% (253,200 votes), while the Communist Party’s candidate Andrei Ishchenko gained 48.06% (245,550 votes). Ishchenko declared a hunger strike and complained about violations. Tarasenko’s headquarters, in its turn, accused Ishchenko of vote buying.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russia’s Central Election Commission called on a regional election authority of the Primorsky Region to recognize the gubernatorial race as invalid saying it is impossible to confirm the real results. The CEC found out that a number of serious violations of the law were committed during the polls, including ballot-stuffing, rewriting protocols and vote buying.

In comments to the situation, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that legitimacy, purity and fairness of the election, rather than victory of the candidate whom he backs, is a priority. The Kremlin supports the CEC’s decision, he said.