Russians in Goa vote for polls in their country

Several Russians living in Goa cast their votes from the state in the election to their country's Lower House of Parliament, Duma.

The voting was held on Thursday at a temporary polling booth in Porvorim village of Goa, about 5 kms from here, in the office owned by Vikram Varma, legal counsel of the Russian Consulate in Mumbai.

The number of votes polled was not disclosed by the officials.

The elections are being held for 450 seats of Duma.

The voting in Russia is scheduled on September 18, but in Goa the voting was held earlier as the ballot boxes are to be transferred to Mumbai and sent to Russia.

"The entire process went on peacefully. Two representatives from the Russian Consulate at Mumbai had arrived in Goa," Varma said.

Sergey Lunev, Head of the Mumbai branch of the Russian Trade Representation, and Vice Consul Alexey Strukov were deputed as election officers, he said.

The arrangements were overseen by Consul General Alexey Zhiltsov.

With the tourism season still a few weeks away, not too many Russians were in Goa, and the turnout was moderate but peaceful, Varma said.

"Most of the Russians were thrilled that they were able to cast their vote while in Goa," he said.

This is the second time that Russia allowed voting from a venue outside a Consulate or the Embassy in India.

The first such polling was witnessed in Goa on December 4, 2011, when nearly 300 Russian voters cast vote, Varma said.

Goa is a popular holiday destination for Russians with 65,000 to 70,000 visitors from the country arriving in the last tourist season.