Polling stations for Kyrgyz nationals being created in Russia

MOSCOW, October 6 (Itar-Tass) -- The Central Electoral Commission
(CEC) of Kyrgyzstan is working to organize the voting at the coming
parliamentary elections for the Kyrgyz nationals staying on the territory
of the Russian Federation, Bolot Mukashev, minister plenipotentiary -
counsellor of the Kyrgyz embassy in Russia, head of the working group for
the organisation of the voting, told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
"According to the resolution of Kyrgyz CEC, 18 polling stations have
been created, which will be opened on October 10 in 15 Russian cities
including Moscow, Zheleznodorozhny, St.Petersburg, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk,
Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Samara, Khabarovsk, Omsk, Chita,
Chelyabinsk and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The voting will take place from 08.00
to 20.00, local time," he said.
"All questions connected with the creation of polling stations and the
holding of elections on the Russian territory have been coordinated with
the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Central Election Commission of Russia
and with regional authorities. The total number of electors, entered on
the election lists by October 4, was 64,301, including 45,631 in the
Siberian and Urals cities, and 18,670 - in the cities of the Central
Federal District, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Samara and Kazan," he continued.
"The Kyrgyz nationals staying provisionally on the Russian territory,
who are not registered in the consulates, including labour migrants,
students and other people, can apply to the commissions at the polling
stations on the day of the voting, for being entered on the additional
lists. They can write an application directly at the commissions,"
Mukashev said.
He reminded that "every individual casts his ballot personally. It is
not permitted to cast ballots on behalf of anybody else. Kyrgyz citizens
staying away from the republic, including in Russia, should present to the
electoral commission one of the following documents: a general passport,
an ID-card, a passport for travelling abroad or a passport issued in 1994."
"The question on the right of Kyrgyz illegal immigrants in Russia to
take part in the voting was not raised. All the Kyrgyz nationals without
exception can come to the polling stations and cast the ballots after the
presentation of the documents they have," he explained.
"The Kyrgyz authorities are grateful to the Russian CEC and its senior
officials for active assistance in organizing the elections by putting to
use the facilities of the regional electoral commissions. The most
important thing today is to inform the Kyrgyz nationals of the elections.
The addresses of the polling stations will be placed on the sites of the
Kyrgyz CEC and embassy, and will be published in the Rossiiskaya Gazeta
and in some regional papers. The Soglasie newspaper of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
and the Priamurskie Vedomosti confirmed their intention to help us,"
Mukashev said.
"Representatives of the political parties running for parliament are
taking part in the notification of the Kyrgyz nationals about the
elections. The distribution of the Migrant newspaper, published with the
help of the Kyrgyz ministry of labour, employment and migration, among the
Russian regions began on Wednesday. The Nur newspaper, as well as some ten
publications, brought out by the Kyrgyz diasporas in the Kyrgyz language,
are also distributed in various parts of Russia."
According to the Russian Federal Migration Service, some 350,000
Kyrgyz nationals are staying on the Russian territory today.