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Early voting has opened in Pridnestrovie for the country's 10 December presidential elections

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - Voters who will have no possibility to come to the polls on 10 December are now free to come and cast ballots starting from today, announced Peter Denisenko, the head of Pridnestrovie's Central Election Commission. He said that throughout the length of the country, electoral commissions and polling stations are technically ready for the approaching presidential election, with staff having been trained to answer any possible questions that may emerge during the course of voting.

" - Election preparation are advancing smoothly, as a considerable portion of the work had been carried out before the 17 September referendum. The personal compositions of the electoral commissions have practically not changed, but the number of polling stations has grown by one: We now have 263 stations. Next Sunday, 14 special polling stations will be opened for Transnistrians staying outside their home region."

Denisenko said all the candidates' representatives, observers from political parties, movements and voting blocs have received accreditation from the Central Election Commission. As a result, they are now fully eligible to visit any polling station during the voting to observe the procedure and make sure that everything is carried out according to democratic standards and Council of Europe election procedures.

Igor Smirnov frontrunner, opposition pol second

To cover Pridnestrovie's presidential election, an independent press center has been opened in Tiraspol. It is headed by Tatiana Yermolayeva, a representative of the organization "Lawyers for Human Rights." Journalists from all over the world have begun arriving in Tiraspol as well: Press accreditations to cover the elections have so far been handed out to 32 different mass media and news organizations, from France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Great Britain, with a group of journalists from the United States currently en-route to the capital.

According to an opinion poll held in the unrecognized country last week, and reported by Moldova's INFOTAG news agency, Igor Smirnov is the favorite frontrunner, with opposition politician Andrey Safonov running a distant second at 18%. A total of four candidates compete for the republic's top job.

In last year's parliamentary election, opposition party Renewal took a surprise victory over Smirnov's party, Respublica. Parliament is now in the hands of the opposition. Despite the 2005 win, Igor Smirnov enjoys a high level of personal popularity and, barring an upset, is widely considered a shoe-in for Sunday's election. (With information from Infotag)

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