Although the results were not yet available from the Russian embassy in Vienna on Monday morning, a majority of 1,437 Russians at the Consulate General in Salzburg voted for Vladislav Davankov and more people voted invalid than for the incumbent Vladimir Putin.
In contrast to Vienna, where turnout was little changed from 2018 despite long lines, five times as many people voted in Salzburg, including numerous Russians living in Germany.
According to the Central Election Commission, 1,437 voting cards were handed out at the Consulate General in Salzburg on Sunday: 52.68 percent of voters voted for the conditionally liberal presidential candidate Davankov, 22.82 percent voted invalid and 21.09 percent for Putin. In the last presidential election in 2018, only 237 people voted for the Consulate General on Salzach. The drastic increase probably has something to do with Russians from Germany, who moved to neighboring Austria after the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Munich.
The official Salzburg result for Dawankov matched almost exactly the results of an exit poll by “independent activists” who also conducted surveys in Vienna and Salzburg for Russian polling stations on Sunday. The ‘Vote Abroad’ initiative in Salzburg had yielded lower figures for candidate Putin, namely eight percent.
Protests during the elections
Voter turnout in the elections in Vienna remained constant: 2,250 people voted in 2018 and 2,278 on Sunday. A large stampede in Vienna, especially after 12 noon – supporters of Alexei Navalny had called for the ‘Lunch against Putin’ protest – initially indicated a higher turnout: Russians living in Austria could not remember that there were ballots before this election Sunday . There were queues hundreds of meters long in front of the Russian embassy.
Observers associated Sunday evening queues of sometimes more than five hours with a significantly slower procedure: security checks and the mandatory handing over of mobile phones at the entrance in particular took time. A large number of people were probably queuing to spend time with friends, but ultimately couldn’t find their way to the polling station.
In contrast to the results from Salzburg, the official election results from Vienna were not yet available on the website of the Central Election Commission in Moscow on Monday morning and the Russian embassy did not want to provide the APA with information. At least in the ‘exit polls’ of ‘Vote Abroad’ Dawankov was also at the top in Vienna with 44 percent and Putin with seven percent.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
