Butt out, Medvedev says of vote concerns

MOSCOW, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- President Dmitry Medvedev, addressing concerns over Russian elections, said Tuesday that his country's political affairs were an internal matter.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed concern following elections for the State Duma in Russia. The OSCE said, that while Russian voters were able to make their voices heard at the ballot box, the vote was skewed in favor of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.

United Russia lost its constitutional majority for the first time since it was established more than a decade ago but managed to take 49.3 percent of the vote.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the U.S. government has "serious concerns" about the conduct of the weekend elections.

"These concerns are reflected in the preliminary report issued by the OSCE's election observation mission, including a lack of fairness in the process, attempts to stuff ballot boxes and the manipulation of voter lists, among other things," he said in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered similar comments criticizing the vote.

Medvedev shrugged off the concerns.

"If they observe elections, violations, it is one thing but the issue of Russia's political system is not their business," he was quoted by state-run news agency RIA Novosti as saying. "Soon they will tell us how we should write our constitution."

The BBC reports Tuesday that Russian police are on high alert following the arrest of several opposition figures in the country.