#4 - JRL 7251
SOME 100,000 ELECTION COMMISSIONS TO ASSIST PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

MOSCOW, July 16, 2003 /from RIA Novosti correspondent Nikolai Makarov/ -- The State Duma (lower house) elections in December will involve about 100,000 election commissions consisting of some 1 million people, Chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission Alexander Veshnyakov said.

Now "we are completing the process of renewing regional election commissions," he noted.

According to him, "we have already formed more than 50 commissions in federation subjects and appointed their chairpersons, and we shall renew commissions in other 21 regions by mid-August.

"After appointing the date of the elections before September 20, we are to form 225 district election commissions, several thousand territorial and 94,000 local election commissions," Veshnyakov said.

According to the new law, all political parties of the State Duma will be able to send their representatives to election commissions of all levels," he added.

"This is a certain guarantee of their impartiality and objectivity," Alexander Veshnyakov concluded.