League of Voters: “Elections distorted voters' choice”
The League of Voters has condemned the results of the March 4 presidential elections in Russia, saying they discredited the institutions of state power, hence cannot be recognized as legitimate.
"Against the backdrop of massive irregularities, the League deems it impossible for itself to recognize the outcomes of the 2012 Russian presidential election," the League said in a memorandum circulated at a press conference at the Interfax head office on Wednesday.
"The League of Voters believes that the election held on March 4 was not equal because the discrimination of well-known politicians in forming the list of candidates restricted the possibility of choice for citizens and made competition easier for the candidate from the ruling power," the document said.
"Regrettably, on March 4 Russian civil society was insulted and the institutions of the Russian presidency, the Russian electoral system and the entire Russian state power as a whole were discredited," it said.
"The election was not honest because the vote count and stock-taking were accompanied by systemic falsifications which substantially distorted the result of the voters' choice," the League of Voters said.
The League of Voters is comprised of well-known cultural and media figures, including writer Boris Akunin, novelist and short-story writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya, journalist and news anchor Leonid Parfyonov, TV presenter Tatyana Lazareva and others.
