Donetsk, Oct 2 – DAN. Polls open in Donetsk and the city’s suburbs for the first round of the DPR primaries.
The voting hours are 8 a.m until 8 p.m.
A record of more than one thousand candidates are vying for the seats in local authorities bodies. Five of them are running for Donetsk mayor, 141 - for city council, and the rest for local offices.
Some six hundred thousand ballots issued by Interim Vote Commission (IVC) have been distributed to 208 local commissions in all districts of Donetsk and suburban towns and villages including Aleksandrovka, Andreyevka, Yelenovka, Larino, Lyubovka, Staromikhailovka and Mospino.
The vote is monitored by 1043 candidates observers and 22 international observers from Finland, Greece, Germany, Italy, South Ossetia, France, Czech Republic, Serbia and other countries. As of Friday, 147 journalists had applied for press passes to report on the primaries.
The primaries, that are preliminary in nature, are aimed solely at exploring public opinion. They are held before anticipated local elections in Donbass in compliance with Minsk Agreements. The vote is being organized in line with OSCE standards.