Russia Attempts to Block Election Monitors

Russia is trying to prevent OSCE election monitors from being able to publicly report electoral irregularities soon after an election. They are also trying to limit the size and scope of these missions. Russian parliamentary elections take place in five weeks and the Kremlin has not allowed monitors in to the country. It takes months for election monitors to prepare for the elections in order to observe well. International Herald Tribune ... the slide to authoritarianism and autocracy in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States continues.