PROBLEMS WITH ELECTORAL DISTRICTS COULD BE SIGNIFICANT.

Becausethe Federation Council turned down the bill establishing new Dumaelectoral districts, and because the Russian parliament is unlikelyto reconvene in August to pass the bill, the Central ElectionCommission is likely to use the existing districts, which do notreflect population shifts, Segodnya reported July 25. Onthe one hand, the use of such old districts lessens the legitimacyof the vote; on the other, it could become the occasion for Yeltsinto adopt a "Kazakh" strategy and ignore the electionsaltogether, the paper said.

78 Federation Council Members Support New Election Procedures.