Russia reports major attack on Moscow election system
The head of Russia’s Central Election Commission said Moscow’s election system came under a major foreign attack during voting, but electronic balloting continued without disruption.
Ella Pamfilova said on Saturday that the attack began overnight and, according to her, was still continuing. She added that the scale and intensity of the attack were significant, but technical teams and election organisers had managed to keep the situation under control.
According to Pamfilova, all attacks have so far been repelled, and the system’s security infrastructure is designed to keep it operating throughout the voting process. She stressed that remote electronic voting in Moscow is proceeding normally.
The attack was reported as Russia holds elections for the ninth term of the State Duma. Voting in the election runs from 18 to 20 September, and voters in Moscow and some other regions can also cast their ballots electronically.
Moscow election officials said that in the first 24 hours, more than 2.2 million people in the city used the electronic voting system, and about 2.18 million votes were registered. Nearly 100,000 votes were also cast overnight.
Pamfilova did not provide details on the origin of the attack or say which country or group might be behind it. At the same time, this year’s elections are also being held in 39 regions of Russia to choose representatives for councils and local assemblies, while direct voting for local officials is under way in eight regions.
