A Just Russia party leader Sergei Mironov, the former Federal Council speaker, called Friday on President Dmitry Medvedev to again give Russians the option to vote "Against All" in elections.
"We consider it necessary to return the Against All option to the election law and the voting ballots. People with solid citizenship want to express their point of view, and now we are depriving them of this right," Mironov said during a meeting with Medvedev.
Mironov said that when there is no suitable candidate on offer and no Against All option on the ballot, people see no sense in going to the polls. He added that the Against All column is a "barometer of society's well-being."
There was no information about Medvedev's response.
Mironov was recalled from the Federation Council two weeks ago following his denunciation of St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko and the ruling United Russia party, which dominates national and regional legislatures. He had represented Russia's second city in the upper house of parliament since 2001, and was elected speaker in December of that year.
GORKI (Moscow region), June 3 (RIA Novosti)
