Russian Dy Speaker criticizes OSCE human rights office’s meddling in Russian election

Moscow, Sep 19 (UNI/SPUTNIK) The position of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)’ human rights office on the monitoring of elections in Russia is interference in Russia’s internal affairs, the deputy speaker of the Russian upper house, Konstantin Kosachev, said Sunday.
“We consider it interference in our internal affairs,” Kosachev said regarding the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights’ (ODIHR) decision not to send their observers to the Russian election because of the limit on the number of people.
“The one and only goal of the OSCE ODIHR deciding to decline to observe the election was to stir up controversy,” the lawmaker told a briefing.
The ODIHR did not take into account the fact that the coronavirus pandemic is still a concern, the head of the Russian Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said.
“They thought they could send 500 observers, like they would normally, without considering the pandemic in Russia. We cannot understand their criteria and why it is okay to send nobody at all to some countries or just 33 people to the United States where there are nearly twice or twice as many voters,” Pamfilova told a briefing.
The Russian legislative election began on Friday and will last through Sunday evening. It coincides with regional and local elections in some regions. Several regions are using online voting systems as well as traditional polling places.