MOSCOW AP Polling stations will be heavily guarded during local elections in St. Petersburg on Sunday a vote that is believed to have played a part in the recent slaying of a prominent liberal lawmaker. Officials are also reporting multiple campaign violations as the election nears and two of the candidates have been formally accused of corruption. Russian media and politicians have suggested that lawmaker Galina Starovoitova was killed to prevent her faction Northern Capital from making a strong showing in the election to the legislature in Russia's second-largest city. Starovoitova was gunned down by unidentified assailants in her apartment building in St. Petersburg last week. Police have announced no major breakthroughs in the case. Starovoitova was not on the ballot but was campaigning for her allies who have often spoken out against corruption. The head of the Russian parliament's security committee Viktor Ilyukhin on Tuesday joined those linking the killing to Sunday's election. ``Three or four crime rings in St. Petersburg largely control business and politics'' Ilyukhin was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency. On Sunday the 1500 polling stations in the city will be heavily guarded from the moment ballot papers are brought in said a senior St. Petersburg police official Gen. Nikolai Fyodorov. Police have also started intensifying security at public places around the city Fyodorov said Tuesday according to ITAR-Tass. St. Petersburg is a particularly crime-ridden city even by Russian standards. Several prominent political and business leaders have been killed or attacked in there in recent weeks. And the election seems to have more problems than even Russians would expect. One candidate former head of Russia's influential Property Committee and ex-parliament member Sergei Belyayev has been formally charged with corruption prosecutors said Tuesday. Another businessman Alexander Moshkalov was detained on suspicion of extortion. Vote rigging is also likely the head of Russia's Central Election Commission warned Tuesday. ``Some cunning entrepreneurs have been collecting voter signatures to sell them to interested candidates'' Alexander Ivanchenko said. The results of several recent local elections in Russia had to be canceled when winners were found to have criminal connections and past criminal records. ``Elections are turning into a low farce. Elections are turning into a dispute between big and very big money'' prominent liberal lawmaker Grigory Yavlinsky said Tuesday. Starovoitova's death brought such problems to the limelight. The killing had all the trademarks of a contract hit which have become common in Russia and are rarely solved. Many of the killings are related to business disputes but Starovoitova had no known business interests. She was also perhaps the most prominent female political figure in the country. ad/adc APW19981201.1423.txt.body.html APW19981201.0926.txt.body.html