Penza, 13 September 2015. PenzaNews. The acting governor of the Penza region Ivan Belozertsev has cast his vote during the regional gubernatorial election in the morning of Sunday, September 13. He voted at the polling station No. 61 in the building of the culture and leisure center on Lenina street.

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Ivan Belozertsev arrived to his voting location at 9.41, together with his wife. They were met by the entrance by the director of the center Tatyana Kurdova, a PenzaNews journalist reports from the location.

After exchanging the words of welcome, Ivan Belozertsev asked about the day’s schedule in the cultural institution. After Tatyana Kurdova told him about a series of performances that will take place at the location throughout the day, the acting governor said he would try to visit one of the evening events.

At 9.44, after entering the building, Ivan Belozertsev and his wife allowed themselves a brief stop by the musical band of the municipal orchestra “Penza.” They went into the voting hall after listening to the song the musicians were performing.

In a chat with the election committee officers, Ivan Belozertsev said the culture and leisure center created an excellent atmosphere for the people to cast their votes.

In particular, the cultural institution scheduled a diverse program for today, with musical bands outside, entertainers for children, and affordable snacks in the buffet – such as belyashs [traditional Russian meat pasties] for 15 rubles.

After receiving his ballot, Ivan Belozertsev proceeded to the voting box. His wife followed his example shortly after, as she was receiving her ballot from a different voting officer.

After making his choice, Ivan Belozertsev placed his ballot in the ballot box.

In a talk to the journalists, Ivan Belozertsev said he came to vote in a good mood and with well-formed hopes for the future.

“I hope life for us in the Russian Federation gets better, war in Ukraine gets over soon, to avoid bloodshed, for the economic situation to improve, for our relationships with Europe to get stronger, as this is important for everyone,” Ivan Belozertsev pointed out.

He also added that the Penza region with its enormous potential must continue its development, and it has all the necessary resources, including skilled people, to achieve this tasks.

“I hope the future Penza region governor will do everything to develop our land, our Penza region,” Ivan Belozertsev said.

As PenzaNews agency reported earlier, September 13 is the day of the Penza region gubernatorial election, as well as special elections of deputies for local government bodies of several municipalities.

All 1,105 polling stations in the Penza region for the gubernatorial election opened at 8.00. They will remain operational until 20.00, at which point vote counting will begin.

The five officially registered candidates for the Penza region gubernatorial election are Vladimir Simagin (CPRF), Zhigansha Tuktarov (LDPR), Ivan Belozertsev (United Russia), Gennady Yeroshin (“A Just Russia”) and Vladimir Popkov (“Rodina”).

According to the Penza region Ministry of the Interior department, some 1,500 police officers will protect the public peace during the unified election day.

The Penza region election committee estimates the voter turnout for the gubernatorial election at 45-50%. However, as no minimum turnout level was set beforehand, the election will be deemed valid regardless of the eventual constituent turnout.

As of 18.00 of Saturday, September 12, the electoral registers of the Penza region include a total of 1,085,392 persons.

The previous public gubernatorial election in the Penza region were held in 2002, 13 years ago, when Vasily Bochkarev won the vote and went over for the second term, leaving behind his closest competitor Victor Ilyukhin, State Duma deputy for the Communist Party.