MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. The presidential election was fully democratic, allowing the Russian people to exercise their freedom of choice, upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko told journalists.

"If we talk about the election, it was held transparently, openly, and democratically. Unlike many other states, including so-called democracies, we have free elections. This is a direct expression of the will of our people, where the voice of every citizen matters," she said.

In addition, she added that parliamentarians know how the electoral process is held in other countries. "In this sense, our election is definitely democratic. Tell me at least one country where there are video cameras at polling stations so that no one can violate the law," Matviyenko said.

The upper house speaker noted that citizens were very happy about the three-day voting period. "Three days of voting - everyone is talking about it - is very convenient. Remote electronic voting, which was used during this election campaign, has also shown its effectiveness and I think there is a great prospect behind this format," she concluded.