MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. The first of the three voting days for the State Duma is coming to an end with no significant violations reported, said Alexey Peskov, co-chairman of the coordination council under the Civic Chamber for public monitoring of voting.
"Since voting began in the Far East, operators at the situation center’s call center have made more than 5,000 calls to local observers. Based on the results of inspections, clarifications, and responses from the election commissions to various technical issues, we've not seen any deviations from the ‘gold standard’ used by every public observer; no violations have been identified at the current stage," Peskov said at a briefing at the Public Chamber’s situational center.
He noted that for the public observation system, the priority during the period between voting days is to be present and ensure full control, including photo and video recording of procedures related to the safety of ballots.
"Packing them in secure bags and ensuring their safety at night is our priority. We receive all the information from the observers," Peskov said.
He reminded that observers appointed by the Civic Chamber are monitoring the election process at polling stations abroad.
According to Peskov, on the first day of voting, there were numerous reports of missile threats from the country's regions.
"We are in touch with every observer at our polling stations where decisions to suspend operations are being made. We are clarifying all the details related to ensuring that procedures are followed in such situations," Peskov said.
He said that by the end of the first day of voting, all election commissions were working in a coordinated manner.
"And training of public observers wasn't all for naught. The observers clearly know what to do, and we are able to carry out voting procedures and ensure election monitoring under these conditions," Peskov said.
He noted that public activists are identifying fake news and information provocations that cannot be substantiated.
"We are not detecting any crude or sophisticated fakes that would be difficult for our voter to identify in any way or that could influence the will of our voter," Peskov said. According to him, all these fake news, given the increased level of digital literacy among Russians, "do not pose significant risks."