MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. The majority of international observers who came to oversee the Russian presidential election were from Africa and Asia, the Central Election Commission said.
According to the CEC, a total of 1,115 foreign observers and experts from 129 countries monitored the presidential election. Most of the observers and experts hailed from Africa, with 45 countries being represented from the continent, while Asia sent observers from 38 countries.
Commenting on the data presented at a commission meeting, CEC Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said that "practically all continents were represented."
Pamfilova specified that the Central Election Commission accredited 706 international observers from 106 countries, with 224 experts from 51 countries invited to observe the presidential election following the World Youth Festival, and 185 experts from 58 countries came to Russia at the invitation of the Civic Chamber. "The very same Europe, people came despite all the threats. <...> These people, courageous people, were not afraid of threats or blackmail. Every continent was represented, even Australia and Oceania, [there were experts and observers] from the United States, from Mexico, from South America. These are people who want to know the truth, who objectively assess the what and how," Pamfilova said.
Russia held its first three-day presidential election over the period March 15-17. Remote electronic voting, also a first, was available to voters in 29, or about one-third, of the country’s regions. According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), after 100% of the votes were tallied by local election commissions, incumbent head of state Vladimir Putin beat out his three rivals with 87.28% of the vote.