Published on Mar 4, 2012 by Euronews
http://www.euronews.net/ Euronews' correspondent Alexander Shashkov is among the 109 million eligible voters in Russia's presidential ballot.
Speaking at a polling station in Moscow, one of 96,000 nationwide, he said it was registering votes for local elections as well as the presidential ballot.
While everything there looked to be above board, opposition parties and an independent watchdog are already denouncing widespread irregularities.
Among the claims, some say groups of voters are being taken to one polling station after another to vote several times for Vladimir Putin.
But Takhir Nurmiev of the local Electoral Commission said: "These elections are different from others because we have installed video cameras that are live on line.
"Everyone can look at how the vote is unfolding and we have also got transparent ballot boxes to avoid fraud."
In an attempt to allay fears of vote rigging, Putin ordered the installation of 182,000 web cameras to stream footage of voting onto a website. International observers and opposition activists are also monitoring the polls.
"There have not been any serious irregularities in this polling station," said observer Sviatoslav Pavlov. However, he added that, despite promises made, the web cam images are not accessible in people's homes.
Critics claim the cameras were never going to prevent fraud with the counting process a serious concern when it comes to rigging an election.
Speaking at a polling station in Moscow, one of 96,000 nationwide, he said it was registering votes for local elections as well as the presidential ballot.
While everything there looked to be above board, opposition parties and an independent watchdog are already denouncing widespread irregularities.
Among the claims, some say groups of voters are being taken to one polling station after another to vote several times for Vladimir Putin.
But Takhir Nurmiev of the local Electoral Commission said: "These elections are different from others because we have installed video cameras that are live on line.
"Everyone can look at how the vote is unfolding and we have also got transparent ballot boxes to avoid fraud."
In an attempt to allay fears of vote rigging, Putin ordered the installation of 182,000 web cameras to stream footage of voting onto a website. International observers and opposition activists are also monitoring the polls.
"There have not been any serious irregularities in this polling station," said observer Sviatoslav Pavlov. However, he added that, despite promises made, the web cam images are not accessible in people's homes.
Critics claim the cameras were never going to prevent fraud with the counting process a serious concern when it comes to rigging an election.
