The Central Election Committee of South Ossetia appealed to the citizens of the Republic to show active civic stand and to take part in the re-election of the president on Sunday, March 25. Such appeal was addressed to the population of the Republic by the Chairman of the CEC of South Ossetia Bella Plieva at a briefing in Tskhinval. The CEC Chairman asked the observers and the representatives of the candidates having the right of signature on the ballots to comply with the current standards of the electoral legislation at the polls and do not go beyond their duties."The signature authorization representatives should only deal with putting their signatures on the reverse side of the ballot. Observers in the November, 2011 election, which were checking practically each voter`s passport, had no such authority. They could only observe what was happening at the poll.
If they do not agree with something, they have to make a report and send it to the Chairman of the Election Committee, and we will take all necessary measures", - underlined Plieva. She has noted that the voters have the right to vote with the passport of a citizen of South Ossetia, no matter when and where it was received. "The passports will be sealed as before. Now they are delta-shaped,"- added the head of the CEC. According to Plieva, all the polling stations are ready for the Election Day. "The voter lists are put up at the polling stations, and each citizen of the Republic of South Ossetia with the right to vote can come and check his name. If someone does not find himself in the lists, members of the Electoral Committee will include him immediately in the lists", - assured the Chairman of the CEC. In
total, according to Plieva, 84 polling stations will be opened, including two polls in the village of Upper Ruck (Dzausky District RSO) for the South Ossetian citizens living in North Ossetia, and one poll - in Moscow.
Plieva has also reported that, according to the data of the polling stations and the regional commissions, the voter lists include 34,360 people; 40,000 ballots are printed, including the polling stations in Moscow and in the Upper Ruck. CEC has expressed confidence that the elections will be successful; the voters will come and vote. "I cannot say that we have carried out some research expertise, but of course, we think about the turnout. People are tired of elections. You know that the two rounds of presidential elections in South Ossetia have been troubled, and then there were elections to the State Duma, the Russian presidential election. And now our presidential election is coming again. There was always observed high turnout for the election. We had such numbers, as 98%, and 75%. Over 65% of voters participated in the November elections. I think that this time they will be not less"- Bella Plieva said. According to her, during the election program no any violations have been revealed, the entire campaign period was peaceful. Bella Plieva has also stressed that the CEC did not register a single voter in the early voting. "The citizens of South Ossetia were given the opportunity to vote early in the presidential elections. They could do it twice - 15 and three days before the election. However, the CEC has not registered a single person wanting to vote early at any polling station in the territory of the republic and outside it "- she said. According to Plieva, this has its advantages - no one can speak of fraud during the early voting. "I hope that our fellow citizens will show their activity in the Election Day" - she has underlined.
Plieva has also reported that to date, the CEC is expecting the arrival of more than 40 observers, mostly from Russia. She has reported about the Information Center, which will begin working in the voting day at 9:00 am. All the data from the polling stations will be sent there, and within the day the media will be presented all the information about the voting process.
It should be noted that the elections will be successful if the vote will be attended by over 50% of the registered voters. To win in the first round a candidate must receive 50% plus one vote.
If the new president is not elected in the first round, the second round will be held not later than 15 days from the date of announcement of the final results of the first round. The second round of voting will be considered valid if they are attended by more than 30% of the registered voters. The winner will be determined by a simple majority.
Re-election of the president of South Ossetia, according to the decision of Parliament, will be held on March 25. The results of the elections in November 2011 have been recognized by the Supreme Court of South Ossetia as invalid because of the committed violations during the course of the elections.
Four candidates are aspiring to the state high office: former head of the KGB of the Republic Leonid Tibilov, Commissioner for Human Rights under the President of South Ossetia David Sanakoev, Ambassador of the Republic of South Ossetia in the RF Dmitry Medoev and ex-Parliament Speaker of the RSO Stanislav Kochiev.
