Over the next three days, Russian citizens will elect the president who will lead the country for the next six years, in what will be the first elections to use remote electronic voting.

Residents of the regions of Donbass, Kherson, and Zaporozhye, incorporated into Russia in September 2022 after popular referendums, will elect the president of Russia.

In total, more than 94 thousand polling stations will be opened, which will operate from 08:00 to 20:00 (local time). At the moment, voting is already taking place on the territory of the Kamchatka and Chukotka regions.

The elections in Russian territory will end on March 17th at 9:00 p.m. (Moscow time), when the voting precincts will close in the westernmost part of the country, the Kaliningrad region.

Apart from the voting points on Russian soil, 295 polling stations will open abroad in 144 countries. The total number of overseas voting sites has decreased significantly compared to the 2018 elections.

Before the main election days, early voting was carried out in some hinterland areas, as well as on ships and military bases.

Early voting will also be held abroad, with 74 polling stations being enabled in 51 countries, and will end on March 16th. According to Pamfilova, more than 2.3 million people in 42 regions voted early from February 25th to March 14th.

This is due to the closure of 26 Russian foreign institutions in unfriendly countries, the reduction of embassy and consulate staff due to mass expulsions of Russian diplomats, as well as the authorities’ refusal to guarantee the security of Russian embassies during the elections.

jrr/llp/jha/gfa