On Sunday, over 30 million people, nearly one-third of Russia's eligible voters, are expected to go to polling stations in 76 regions across the country. Some 6,000 elections are being held simultaneously. All polling data is being fed into the Central Elections Commissions' database. In eight regions from Kaluga southwest of Moscow to the far-eastern Khabarovsk Territory, citizens are electing regional parliaments, mayors and municipal councils. Running in the polls are candidates from all officially registered political parties, both those represented in the federal parliament - the United Russia party, the Communists, the Fair Russia party and the Liberal-Democrats - and non-parliamentary parties, among them the Patriots of Russia and the Right Cause party. A fairly high if not record turnout is expected. Chief Elections Commissioner Vladimir Churov has told reporters that with several candidates per one seat at a regional or municipal council, this is going to be a tough battle for the parties:
"The overwhelming majority of the candidates are from United Russia and self-nominees. Coming second are Communists and the Just Russia party with an almost equal number of candidates. The Liberal Democratic Party comes third. Candidates from the other parties account for less than one percent. Also, more candidates from parliamentary parties were denied registration, most of them from United Russia, while the number of registration failures among non-parliamentary parties has dropped considerably, compared to the previous polls".
The Central Elections Commission is stuffed with up-to-date telecommunications equipment. Large screens show how voting proceeds in various polling districts. A huge online map indicates the voter turnout. All data is promptly posted on the commission's web site. Some new elections technologies have been put to test, including remote electronic voting. If everything goes smoothly, voting via the Internet will be allowed during the 2012 presidential polls. The GLONASS satellite navigation system is being used to monitor the delivery of election documents. A telephone "hotline" for voters has been set up and a 24-hour communications center in the Central Elections Commission's office is accepting calls and e-mail messages from citizens.
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