Low turnout reported by observers in Chechnya

Voter turnout in the elections of Chechnya's deputy to the State Duma of the Russian Federation was quite low, as the Prague Watchdog correspondent learned from monitors working stationed at polling booths on behalf of the candidates and parties.

"Roughly 200 voters, about 10 percent, came to our booth, so I really don't know where the [official turnout of] 70 percent came from," said Ruslan Khadashev, who worked at Precinct 369 on behalf of Salambek Maigov, one of the candidates.

"There were no voting violations, but voters were few," said Zhalaudi Rasayev, who represented candidate Alaudi Musayev at Precinct 384.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Chechen Election Commission, Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov, announced that according to preliminary figures, 70 percent of eligible Chechen voters took part in the elections.

The secret of the "successful voting figures" was privately revealed by one of the local election commission members, saying that the powers-that-be had ordered them to "ensure the turnout of 85 percent." Akhmar Zavgayev, who is the present deputy to the Federation Council for Chechnya, was to become a winner among the individual candidates and the United Russia party was to become a winner one among the parties, stated the commission member, who preferred to remain anonymous.

"We had filled in about fifty percent of the ballots in support of them in advance and during the day were gradually throwing them into ballot boxes," he said.