State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner:
“Any suggestion that we rejected Russia’s proposal to observe our elections is false. Individual parties—foreign governments, NGOs, etc.—are welcome to apply to state governments to observe our elections.
Individual states maintain the authority to approve or deny requests from outside parties to observe their elections. We understand that the Russian Embassy intended to approach local authorities for assistance observing elections.
Russian officials also had an opportunity to join the OSCE observation mission. In September, U.S. officials participated in the OSCE observation mission to the Russian parliamentary elections. The fact that they have chosen not to join the OSCE mission makes clear this issue and the story are nothing more than a PR stunt.”
