Hillary Clinton concerned about Russia's parliamentary elections

PanARMENIAN.Net - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US has "serious concerns" about the conduct of Russia's parliamentary elections.

"We do have serious concerns about the conduct of the elections," Clinton told a press conference, citing a preliminary report by the OSCE about alleged attempts to stuff ballot boxes and manipulate voter lists.

She said she expected to be briefed after she arrives later Monday, December 5, at OSCE headquarters in Vilnius.

"We are also concerned by reports that independent Russian election observers... were harassed and had cyber attacks on their websites," she said.

With 96 per cent of the vote counted, the country's Central Election Commission said it had won 49.5 per cent of the vote, technically short of a simple majority but just enough to scrape a majority of seats in the Duma, the lower house of parliament.

Barring the unexpected, United Russia is forecast to control 238 seats in the 450-seat Duma for the next five years, down from 315 seats previously, The telegraph reported.