Russia enters 8th presidential election

At 8:00 a.m. (local time) on March 15 (ie 3:00 a.m. on the same day Vietnam time), the first polling stations in Russia's Kamchatka Region opened for people to vote in the 8th presidential election. The polling stations will operate for 3 days, from March 15 to 17. This is the first time Russia has held a presidential election in 3 days.

Russian voters cast their ballots in Vladivostok. Photo: REUTERS

Russia spans nine time zones, so most polling stations in Moscow and the western regions will not officially open until 12:00 (Vietnam time). Polling stations will operate from 8:00 to 20:00 for three days from March 15 to 17.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Russian Federation in Moscow said that a total of 94,000 polling stations were operating in this presidential election with more than 113 million ballots prepared. 12,645 reporters from 2,458 media agencies were registered to cover the election. According to the CEC, about 2 million Russian voters in remote regions cast their ballots early.

This year's election is a race between four candidates : Vladislav Davankov of the New People's Party, Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), and incumbent President Vladimir Putin - who is running as an independent candidate.

Checking an electronic voting machine in Moscow. Photo: REUTERS

Pre-election polls predict that President Putin will win by a landslide over the other three candidates. According to a Levada Center poll in February 2024, Russians named the politicians they trust as follows: Putin (52%), Slutsky (3%), and Kharitonov and Davankov (1 each). Mr. Putin has won the Russian presidential elections four times.

In Russia, the president is elected directly by voters. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a second round of voting is held between the two candidates with the highest number of votes three weeks later.

CEC Commissioner Igor Borisov said that the preliminary results of the presidential election will be announced on the morning of March 18. The CEC will begin announcing the first results at 9:00 p.m. on March 17 local time (ie 1:00 a.m. on March 18 Vietnam time).

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