MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. Public activists and experts have trained more than 116,000 observers to monitor the State Duma elections, Alexey Peskov, co-chairman of the coordinating council for public monitoring of voting under Russia’s Civic Chamber, said.

"A total of 2,634 in-person events were held across Russian regions to prepare and train public observers, with more than 116,000 future specialists trained," Peskov said at the opening of the Civic Chamber's Situation Center for election monitoring.

Peskov noted that training seminars were held in all Russian regions from June through early September. "The process of preparing and training public observers was in full swing throughout the summer months. We can now sum up the figures. As of today, the number reflecting the scale of our community's work exceeds what we had planned," Peskov said.

Voting in the elections to the 9th State Duma will take place from September 18 to 20. For the first time ever, residents of the recently incorporated Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, will participate in legislative elections for the lower house of the Russian parliament. A total of ten parties are taking part in the election: United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party of the Russian Federation (LDPR), New People, A Just Russia - For Truth, the Party of Pensioners for Social Justice, the Communists of Russia, Rodina, the Party of Direct Democracy, as well as the Greens Ecological Party.

Elections for regional legislative bodies will also be held in 39 Russian constituent entities, alongside elections for regional leaders. In eight regions, the leaders will be elected directly, while in three regions, they will be chosen by the regional parliaments. A total of 23,000 seats will be filled.