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MOSCOW - Russia's election chief dismissed opposition complaints of fraud on Sunday, saying there were no serious violations in a parliamentary election expected to give President Vladimir Putin's party a big majority.
"I think there were no serious violations in the course of polling day," Central Election Commission Chairman Vladimir Churov told Vesti-24 television station.
Opposition parties and independent election observers say they received numerous reports of vote-buying, multiple voting and intimidation of voters during Sunday's election.
Asked about complaints by the Communists, who earlier pledged to challenge the election results in court, Churov said:
"If there are official complaints made to us or to the courts then we will look at them. But I think there were no serious violations on voting day."
"At least during the voting, not one party leader called me and no one complained (to me). I had some calls from international observers and we resolved their problems immediately."
Churov, a former colleague of Putin's when they worked at St Petersburg's town hall in the 1990s, was appointed to head the election commission earlier this year.
- REUTERS
