Ella Pamfilova, Chairwoman of the Russian Central Election Commission, noted the importance of the CSTO PA observers’ work

As part of monitoring the election campaign to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, CSTO PA international observers met in Moscow with Ella Pamfilova, Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation.
Pavel Andreev, deputy Chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission, also took part in the meeting.
Ella Pamfilova thanked CSTO observers for their work at the parliamentary election in the Russian Federation.
The Russian CEC chairwoman shared with the international observers from the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly the specificities and changes in the electoral legislation of the Russian Federation and specificities of voting for deputies to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
“We use artificial intelligence to check signature sheets,” said the Chairwoman of the Russian CEC at the meeting with observers from the CSTO PA.
According to the Chairwoman, there are 348 polling stations organized in 144 foreign countries. Every year the CEC improves the electoral legislation and introduces new progressive forms allowing citizens to exercise their right to vote remotely. At present this experiment is ongoing in seven regions, and over two million citizens – 2,650,000 people – have already used this opportunity and registered in the electronic system and have the opportunity to vote remotely from September 17 to 19.
However, as Ella Pamfilova remarked, “We are not going to fully switch to electronic voting; the traditional voting will remain.”
Describing the external situation around the election, the Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation noted the unprecedented outside pressure exerted on the voters. “Never has such an amount been allocated for information provocations during elections. The pressure is unprecedented,” she stressed. The CEC Chairwoman invited the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly to a dialogue on preventing foreign interference in elections.
In response, Arman Kozhakhmetov, coordinator of the group of international observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Chairman of the Committee on Legislation and Judicial and Legal Reform of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, praised the level of preparation of the electoral system and the electoral legislation of the Russian Federation. “At the meeting at the CEC the information on the current work to prepare the election to the State Duma was provided. Polling stations are organized abroad: 348 polling stations in 144 countries. Every year the CEC improves the elections legislation, introduces new progressive forms allowing citizens to exercise their right to vote and register remotely. At present this experiment is ongoing in seven regions, and over two million citizens – 2,650,000 people – have already used this opportunity and registered in the electronic system and have the opportunity to vote remotely from September 17 to 19.”
“The information systems are very reliable; they do not allow any outside interference. At the same time, the CEC does a lot to prevent illegal double voting. The overall mood is very positive and we expect the elections to be fair and transparent,” stressed Arman Kozhakhmetov.
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