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Upper house speaker certain presidential election will be most open in Russia’s history

Matviyenko also noted that in recent years much had been done to improve the legislation regulating elections

ST. PETERSBURG, March 12. /TASS/. The legal, organizational and technical measures that have been taken will allow to make the 2018 presidential election the most transparent in the history of modern Russia, Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Valentina Matviyenko said in an interview with the the Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti daily newspaper published on Monday.

"The state has taken legal, organizational and technical measures that enhance the transparency of elections and society’s control over their outcomes. Fortunately, technological progress makes it possible to do that. Currently, the polling stations that cover the territories where 85-90% of Russia’s population lives are equipped with video cameras. Cameras will control both the voting and the vote counting at polling stations," she said.

Matviyenko also noted that in recent years much had been done to improve the legislation regulating elections. "Today we can say confidently that Russia’s electoral legislation conforms to all modern standards in this area," she noted.

According to the speaker, an important step to improve transparency at the elections was the work with observers during the 2018 campaign. "The Central Election Commission said it was interested in as many observers as possible at polling stations and territorial election commissions. It not just declared that, it began interaction with political associations, civil society organizations, started training observers to make sure that they accomplish their mission professionally and honestly," Matviyenko stressed.

She also noted that a large number of foreign observers were expected at the 2018 presidential election. "The Federation Council, our colleagues in the State Duma also invite parliamentarians from various countries to monitor the election. I am confident that these efforts will make the 2018 presidential election the most open in the history of modern Russia," Matviyenko said.