Russian Officials To Monitor U.S. Vote

30 October 2004 -- Top Russian election officials are traveling to the United States to help monitor the 2 November presidential vote there, the Interfax news agency reported today.
Aleksandr Veshnyakov, chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission, will arrive in the United States today and will be among those monitoring the voting process and ballot counting in Los Angeles, California.

Another Russian election official is going specifically to examine the use of new electronic voting machines, Interfax reported.

The 2000 U.S. presidential election was marred by charges of massive irregularities and fraud. This year's competition, between incumbent George W. Bush and U.S. Senator John Kerry, is currently considered too close to predict.

(AFP, Interfax)