Residents of Russia’s Far East have begun casting their votes in the presidential elections, expected to see President Vladimir Putin secure another term.
The first polling stations opened on Friday at 8 a.m. local time (20:00 GMT Thursday) in the Kamchatka Peninsula and in Tokotka in the far east of Russia. Voting will conclude on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. (18:00 GMT) in Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast, located within the European Union.
Voting is scheduled to take place over three days.
The candidates who are contesting for top state post in the 2024 election are Vladislav Davankov, Russia’s incumbent President Vladimir Putin, Leonid Slutsky and Nikolay Kharitonov. New People’s Party has nominated Vladislav Davankov, with Putin being a self-designated candidate. Leonid Slutsky of the LDPR party and Nikolay Kharitonov are also in fray from the Communist Party of Russia, according to TASS.
At the very start of the presidential race, as many as 33 people, including nine contenders from parties and 24 independent contenders, planned to contest for Russia’s top state post. Among them, only 15 people submitted the documents needed to be registered as candidates.
Only 11 candidates remained in the presidential race when the deadline for submitting documents expired on January 1. Eventually, only four candidates were registered.
It is the first time that the presidential polls in Russia will be conducted over three days.
According to Russian Central Election Commission Chair Ella Pamfilova, the people liked this format as it gives them more opportunity to cast votes in the presidential polls, TASS reported.
Over 94,000 polling stations will be open in Russia from 8 am (local time) to 8 pm (local time). Except several regions abroad, the voting will formally end on March 17 at 9 pm (local time) when polling stations in Kaliningrad will close.
As many as 295 polling stations will open in 144 foreign nations and on the territory of Baikonur space centre, which Russia has leased from Kazakhstan.
The exact timeframe of the vote will differ from nation to nation. Thailand will be the first nation where polling stations will open at the Russian Consulate General in Phuket.
Also, during the presidential elections, people will have the option to cast their vote electronically. Online voting is available in 29 regions, including Moscow.
People were asked to submit applications to cast their ballots online from January 29 to March 11, TASS reported.
