No major violations during general elections — Russia’s top senator

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. The Single Voting Day in Russia went off without a hitch, effectively dashing the hopes of Russia’s opponents to destabilize the situation in the country, Russia’s Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told reporters.
Russia’s top senator said there were no serious violations during the country’s recently held general elections. “In my opinion, the results of the Single Voting Day closed the book on any attempts by our opponents to destabilize the situation in Russia, to divide our society. And this is, perhaps, one of the biggest things we can take from the past campaign. We saw the strong unity of our society and trust in the authorities. Russians took a very active part in voting. It is extremely important that there were no serious violations,” Matviyenko said.
Russia’s Federation Council Speaker also thanked Russians for fulfilling their civic duty and for their active participation.
“The finished campaign is also a confirmation of our citizens’ support of the president’s personnel policy. And this, I would say, is the second biggest thing,” she concluded.
On September 6-8, 21 Russian regions held direct elections of heads of subjects. Another four regions – Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Khanty-Mansiysk and Crimea – elected heads of subjects through their parliaments. In 13 regions, MPs have been elected to the regional legislative assemblies. Additional elections to the State Duma were also held in three single-seat constituencies.