The SCO Observer Mission to oversee the preparations and holding of presidential elections in Russia has been working in regions throughout the country since 13 March 2018.
In the Irkutsk Region, the observers met with the Region's First Deputy Governor Vladimir Dorofeyev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Irkutsk Region Valentina Voblikova and chairman of the Irkutsk Region Election Commission Eduard Devitsky. During the meetings, the SCO observers were briefed on the Regional Government's efforts to create organisational and other conditions for the free expression of citizens' will. The observers also visited polling stations in the Irkutsky and Shelekhovsky districts, as well as in Shelekhov.
In the Primorye Territory, the SCO observers met with director of the Vladivostok planning and organisational activities directorate Alexander Lyutov, chairperson of the Central Election Commission of the Primorye Territory Tatiana Gladkikh, and director of the department of international relations of the Primorye Territory Alexei Starichkov. They also inspected 24 polling stations in the run-up to the election and assessed their readiness.
Members of the SCO Observer Mission also inspected 36 polling stations in the Republic of Tatarstan, met with 22 chairpersons of district election commissions in Kazan, as well as with chairman of the Central Republican Election Commission Midkhat Shagiakhmetov and his deputies. They exchanged opinions on the election campaign and its organisation in Tatarstan with representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Belarus-Russia Union State and the CIS Observer Mission.
The SCO observers met with chairman of the Krasnodar Territory Election Commission Alexei Chernenko, and were updated on the readiness of polling stations for the elections, the use of new technologies and the work of observers and representatives of the Civic Chamber in the region. All this will guarantee transparent and legitimate presidential elections.
Mission members visited polling stations in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, Krymsk and Goryachy Klyuch.
The observers met with Deputy Governor of the Leningrad Region Sergei Perminov and chairman of the Regional Election Commission Mikhail Lebedinsky, as well as with chairman of the St Petersburg Municipal Election Commission Viktor Pankevich.
During these meetings, the SCO observers were updated on the comprehensive efforts to guarantee electoral rights of citizens. They also inspected St Petersburg's and the Leningrad Region's polling stations in the run-up to the elections. The SCO observers continue to actively oversee the election process in six Russian federal districts. They will issue a post-election statement on the results of their work.
The SCO Observer Mission includes representatives of eight SCO member states.