Russian elections: irregularities signaled in Sankt Petersburg and Moscow. 48% turnout by 2 p.m. Moscow time

Observers for the Communist Party found irregularities at a voting station in Sankt Petersburg in the early hours of voting in the Russian presidential elections on Sunday, Gazeta.ru informs. Gennady Zyuganov’s party representatives said that at the military academy in the city students were ordered to show their vote to their direct head before casting the ballots properly.

As an argument, the students learned that „a Soviet officer does not have any secrets to his superior officers”.

Irregularities were also noted in Moscow, where at a voting station observers found large packs of ballots thrown into the ballot box. The votes were all in favor of Medvedev, the candidate most likely to win the elections and supported by incumbent president Vladimir Putin.

Some 5.5% of Moscow registered voters showed up at polling stations across the city within the first two hours since opening on Sunday morning. At all-Russia level, the turnout by noon Russian time on Sunday stood at 16%, 7-8 percentage points above the turnout of the 2004 elections and 3% above the turnout of the 2007 parliamentary elections, according to Gazeta.ru.

The vote is already over in Far East regions such as Kamchatka and Chukotka.

UPDATE: The Central electoral commission in Moscow announced a voter turnout of 48% at all-Russia level by 2 p.m. on Sunday.