ST. PETERSBURG, September 11 (RIA Novosti) - About 4.3 billion rubles ($168 million) will be allocated for the December 2 polls to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, the head of the Central Election Commission said Tuesday.
Vladimir Churov said addressing students at St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions that the polls will cost every Russian $1.5.
The last elections in 2003 cost the federal budget 2.8 billion rubles ($110 million).
About 3 million people will be involved in organizing the elections, with around 1.5 million observers from different parties monitoring the electoral process, Churov said.
Churov also said earlier 15 parties were expected to run, with over 107 million voters registered as of July 1, which is 600,000 fewer than the previous Duma elections.
