Concern over 'rigged' Russia vote 俄罗斯“作弊”选举引发担忧

Opposition¹ parties in Russia have alleged² that local elections across the country were marred³ by fraud.

俄罗斯反对团体称，全国的地区选举都被欺诈所糟蹋。

Opposition politician Boris Nemtsov has criticised the polls

Mayoral, regional and district council votes were held across Russia on Sunday, with some 30 million people eligible⁴（有资格的，合格的） to vote.

But opposition parties say they were refused registration⁵ to take part and were denied media access.

Votes were held in almost all regions, including Chechnya and Ingushetia, with United Russia likely to dominate.

One official from United Russia, the party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and which backs President Dmitry Medvedev, said it won "practically every race it ran in", Reuters reported.

'Votes taken'

Vladimir Churov, chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission, praised the electoral process.

"The elections were recognised valid⁶ and were well organised, with a quite high turnout," he told Itar-Tass.

However, concerns over the polling led to one opposition leader, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, calling on voters to boycott⁷（抵制） the elections or spoil（溺爱，破坏） their ballots⁸.

"These elections are illegitimate（不法的）. They're nothing but a farce（闹剧，胡闹）," he told the Associated Press.

Mr Nemtsov was refused permission to stand in Moscow's city council election, AP reported, with election officials alleging⁹ the 5,000 signatures his party collected were forged（假冒）.

Another opposition party, Yabloko, also alleged irregularities in Moscow, saying voters had contacted party officials to say they tried to vote but found votes already cast in their names.

Party observers also noticed large numbers of voters at a polling station who did not live in that voting area, Yabloko said, adding that it was preparing a complaint to election officials.