More than 94,000 polling stations remain open until this Sunday for elections in Russia

Published at: 15/03/2024 07:36 PM

More than 94,000 polling stations are authorized until next Sunday, March 17, for 112.3 million Russians to exercise their right to vote to elect the new President of Russia, reported the Russian portal Sputnik.

He specified that the ballots include four candidates: Leonid Slutsky, for the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR); Nikolai Jaritonov, for the Communist Party of Russia (KPRF); Vladislav Davankov, for New People; as well as the current president, Vladimir Putin (independent).

The electoral process began this Friday, the 15th and will end on Sunday, March 17th, and nearly 112.3 million Russians are called to the polls to elect the future president for the next six years, in addition to 1.9 million voters abroad.

Polling stations will be open from 8:00am to 8:00pm, with the exception of those authorized abroad, which will remain open until 9:00pm on Sunday, March 17, when election day ends.

These elections will be the first time that the latest technologies will be used, so this is the first time that residents of Donbass and Novorossia, who joined Russia in 2022, will participate.

For its part, the TASS agency indicates that a total of 295 polling stations will be opened in 144 foreign countries and on the territory of the Baikonur Space Center, which Russia rents to Kazakhstan.

The exact deadline for voting abroad will vary from country to country. Thailand will be the first country where polling stations will be opened on the territory of the Russian Consulate General in Phuket.

In total, more than 4.7 million people applied to vote online. These results will be announced between 22:00 and 23:00 hours next Sunday.

It also reports that more than 1,200 polling stations were set up in the three new Russian regions: Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Kherson region.

Of the total, 626 polling stations are authorized in Donetsk, which will be open until 8:00pm between this Friday 15th and Saturday 16th, while for Sunday the 17th, it will be possible to vote until 3:00pm.

For its part, 581 polling stations will be enabled in Lugansk, while more than 60 polling stations operate in Kherson, according to the TASS agency.

Similarly, residents of the Zaporozhye region will go to the polls only on Sunday, March 17.

On the first day, there was high citizen participation, while strong security measures were maintained in the voting centers.

So far, participation in the Russian presidential elections has already exceeded 25% of the electoral roll.