More than 112 million Russians are being called to vote in the next three days. According to official polls, Putin, who is competing with three other candidates, has a voting intention of more than 80%, which could give him his biggest election victory since coming to power.
Russia celebrates the first day of the eighth elections presidential elections in its history in which the current head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putinis seeking re-election for a fifth six-year term.
Polling stations opened last night on the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Chukotka Autonomous District, Russia’s easternmost regions, for presidential elections in which more than 112 million Russians They are called upon to vote in the next three days.
Polling stations opened at 8am local time (8pm GMT) in the Russian Far East and closed at 8pm local time (6pm GMT) in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad in a country with 11 time zones.
The Russians will be able to practice for 36 hours their right to vote, something that more than two million voters have already done in advance.
According to official polls, Putin, who is competing with three other candidates, has one voting intention of more than 80%so that he could achieve his biggest election victory since coming to power in 2000.
The representative of the New People’s Party, Vladislav Davankov, and the communist Nikolai Kharitonov have 6% support among respondents. Meanwhile, ultranationalist Leonid Slutski has around 5% support.
According to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), the elections will take place in the 89 regions of the countryincluding the four Ukrainian territories annexed in September 2022 (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia), and the also annexed Crimean Peninsula.
In total, the commission has enabled 93,644 polling stations, to which another 295 are to be added in the 144 countries where Russian citizens live.
More than a third of voters will be able to exercise their right to vote electronicsa clearly fraudulent method, according to the exile opposition.
After the death in prison of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, his co-religionists – who hold Putin directly responsible – called on the West not to recognize the election results.
Ukraine, which is considering Russian elections illegal On its territory, it has launched several large-scale drone strikes against Russia in recent days, adding border incursions in the Belgorod and Kursk regions.
The first direct elections in Russian history took place on June 12, 1991, when the Soviet Union still existed, and were won by Boris Yeltsin, who would be re-elected in 1996 and hand power to Putin before the March 2000 elections.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
