Members of Russia’s electoral commissions at all levels should have no political party affiliations, Central Electoral Commission chief Vladimir Churov said on Friday.
That view is prevalent within the CEC, he said, adding that a formal comprehensive ban should be imposed on affiliation with any political parties for all electoral commission members without exception.
“Electoral commissions are not political bodies but organizations ensuring the conduct of elections,” said Churov, who is under pressure to deliver free and fair presidential elections in March after presiding over parliamentary elections marred by alleged vote rigging in favor of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party last December.
“Political debates within our system are unacceptable,” Churov stressed.
A total of 830,000 people worked on electoral commissions countrywide during the December 4 parliamentary elections, marred by allegations of massive fraud in favor of the ruling United Russia party.
Political parties delegated an additional 175,000 commission members, including 73,500 from United Russia, 40,000 from the Communist Party, 34,000 from A Just Russia, a quasi opposition party, and 17,500 from the ultranationalist Liberal-Democratic Party.
