Myanmar Delegation Observes Russian State Duma Elections in Moscow

DEPUTY Speaker of the Pyithu Hluttaw U Maung Maung Ohn and his del­egation, who were in Russia as international election observers, visit­ed five polling stations in Moscow during the State Duma elections.

The polling stations were located in a theatre in Arbat District, a sci­ence centre in Khamovni­ki District, a government one-stop service office in Yakimanka District, a shopping and leisure centre in Ochakovo Dis­trict, and a government one-stop service office at Yevropeysky Shopping Centre in Dorogomilovo District.

The delegation learned that the polling stations they visited had voter lists ranging from more than 3,000 to over 8,000 voters. Voters could cast their ballots through several methods, includ­ing paper ballots and electronic voting at poll­ing stations, online voting via the Gosuslugi appli­cation, and home voting using mobile ballot boxes or electronic voting ma­chines for elderly and sick voters unable to travel to polling stations.

Most voters report­edly cast their ballots through the online appli­cation, while many who visited polling stations used electronic voting machines. Paper ballots were mainly used by el­derly voters, although queues of people prefer­ring paper ballots were observed at some polling stations.

Elderly and sick vot­ers unable to visit polling stations could request home voting by telephone. In such cases, election officials accompanied by observers representing political parties or candi­dates travelled to voters’ homes with mobile ballot boxes or voting machines.

The delegation also observed international visitors, party and candi­date observers, and vot­ers at the polling stations. Most locations were not crowded, which polling station officials attributed to the extended voting pe­riod, online voting options and the availability of suf­ficient electronic voting machines. — MNA/ST