WASHINGTON, January 10. /TASS/. Washington’s attempts to exert pressure on Russia’s authorities amid the upcoming presidential election are "unacceptable," the Russian Embassy in the US said in a commentary posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
"We wish to calm the ‘hot heads’ in America: demands to allow someone’s participation in the Russian elections and other similar hypocritical attempts to put pressure on the Russian authorities are unacceptable and are deemed as direct interference in our country’s internal affairs," the Embassy stressed.
On January 7, another round of preparations for the Russian presidential election concluded - the documents from the self-nominated presidential candidates were submitted. Since the campaign’s beginning, 15 candidates who have decided to run for president as self-nominated have submitted the required documentation to the Central Election Commission, according to the ministry.
"Meanwhile accusations from officials in Washington that the decisions to deny registration to the Russian presidential candidates were politically motivated are absolutely groundless and politicized. Suspicions of the upcoming elections being undemocratic are invalid," it said. "It should be noted that all of that coincided with another wave of untrue allegations about Russia’s interference into electoral processes in other countries."
"We hope that the U.S. authorities shall not create obstacles in the way of Russian citizens, residing and temporarily staying in the USA, when they exercise their voting rights. The information about the location of the voting stations set up by the Russian diplomatic and consular missions will be provided to the U.S. authorities in the proper manner," the Embassy said.
Polling stations will be set up in the facilities of Russia’s foreign missions - at the Embassy in Washington, D.C., Consulates General in Houston, New York, and Seattle. Early polling is also scheduled to take place in Albany, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Orlando, Sacramento, San Francisco and Philadelphia.