MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 20, 2004, RIA NOVOSTI - Russia's Central Electoral Commission has begun preparations for the opening of an information center that will be covering the March 14 presidential ballot and reporting vote tallies.
According to Electoral Commission Chairman Alexander Veshnyakov, the media are showing a great interest in the upcoming election, with over 200 reporters having applied for accreditation with the information center in just three days.
Russia's most recent parliamentary polls, held on December 7 last year, were covered by as many as 1,200 newspeople from over 30 countries across the world, Veshnyakov recalled as he spoke at a press conference Friday. The information center, to be introduced on March 12, will be running for two days, March 14 and 15, the official announced. He said that the center was preparing some novelties for the media, but would not reveal them for the time being.
