MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. Russia’s Central Electoral Commission will not provide a single opportunity for those seeking to discredit the September elections, Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said Tuesday.
"I would like to reiterate what the president [Vladimir Putin] said yesterday: that the elections must be fair and transparent. We will do our best not to provide a single opportunity for those, who seek to discredit these elections," Pamfilova told journalists.
"We will launch a slogan now - those, who seek to rig the vote, to stuff ballots, work against Russia. Those, who seek to distort the election results, are accomplices of those provocateurs. We will hold the campaign under this slogan, because we must not provide a single opportunity to those, who seek to discredit these elections," the official said.
She also noted that the Electoral Commission management also faces deliberate discrediting.
"I felt it myself: they take a real speech, edit it so that it looks like the speech is slurred, some pauses get stretched. And then they post it on social media, saying ‘look at her, our Central Electoral Commission chairwoman is totally inadequate’. This is widespread. Because to discredit the management is to discredit the entire system," Pamfilova added.
"I face it every day, I treat it calmly, but me and my colleagues, we must not allow the work that we do to be discredited," the official noted.
Last Thursday, Vladimir Putin officially scheduled State Duma elections for September 19. The presidential order has been published, marking the official start of the electoral campaign. The September 19 single voting day will also include elections of nine governors and 39 regional parliaments.