Moscow Electoral Commission calls on Russian citizens abroad to participate in March 2 elections

The Russian Central Electoral Commission invites the Russian citizens abroad to participate in the presidential elections of March 2, Info-Prim Neo reports. The central electoral authority invites the Russian citizens to take part in the elections by voting at those 364 polling stations abroad, realising thus their constitutional and civil rights. According to the Moscow Commission, over 1.6 mln of Russians are expected to go to the polling stations overseas. The Russian authorities have announced they will open 23 polling station in the area on the left bank of the Nistru, controlled by the break-away authorities, including in Tiraspol. Russia opened polling stations in that region for the parliamentary elections of December 2007, in which about 50,000 people participated. On the eve, the Moldovan Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry told the Russian embassy that, according to the national law, opening polling stations for the Duma elections was possible only in the Russian Embassy to Chisinau. The Moldovan part recommended the Russian part to abstain from opening polling stations in Moldova’s eastern districts, which are not under the control of the legal authorities. The request was supported by more than 20 Moldovan NGOs which criticised the Russian Federation for defying the international law, but also Moldova’s law as a lawful state.