Russian Election Chief Slams American Democracy

Says, "The elections for the president of the USA are not direct, not universal, not equal and do not preserve voting secrecy,"

When Russian protesters took to the streets last year following allegations of mass fraud in the parliamentary elections, Vladimir Churov became a popular hate figure.

Many held the head of the central elections commission responsible for massaged results that had given the ruling United Russia party up to 99% of the vote in some regions of the country.

In a comment widely lampooned by protesters, the then-president Dmitry Medvedev referred to Churov as a "wizard" for his success in predicting the election's outcome.