RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 13:24:20.As of 10 p.m., total voter turnout in the parliamentary elections in Russia amounted to 12.6 percent, Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Stanislav Vavilov said, comparing the turnout to the 2003 elections figure of 5 percent by the same time. According to earlier reports, Central Election Committee Chairman said that the turnout had already reached 6 percent as of 10 a.m., but some 50 regions had not been taken into account at the time.
All of polling stations were open at 9 a.m. this morning, after the Kaliningrad region, the country’s most western point, joined the election. In Russia’s most eastern areas, Chukotka and Kamchatka, polling stations were opened more than fourteen hours ago.
Some 107m voters are eligible to participate in the elections, including 1.5m Russians abroad. Over 96,000 polling stations have been established. Eleven political parties, including United Russia, Communist Party, Fair Russia, Union of Right Forces, Yabloko, Liberal Democratic Party and others, are running for 450 seats in the State Duma. According to Russia’s Central Election Commission, up to 3m Russian and around 330 international observers are monitoring the election process.