Russia Elections 2024: Putin votes online on first day of Russian presidential election
Russian President Putin casts his vote electronically in the presidential elections, marking the first time online voting is available. Over 3.5 million people voted online on the first day, with a 73% turnout recorded.
Russian President Vladimir Putin electronically submitted his vote in the presidential elections on the first day of Presidential elections, the state media TASS said.
The Kremlin released video footage depicting Putin walking to a computer in his office, voting, and subsequently smiling and waving at the camera. A message displayed on the computer screen confirmed the successful casting of his vote.
The ongoing polling to elect the Russian President marks the first time that online voting has been made available, according to TASS report.
More than 3.5 million people cast their vote online on the first day of the presidential election across Russia, TASS reported, citing the e-voting monitoring portal.
As of 7:28 pm (local time), as many as 3,500,331 ballots were issued to voters in 28 Russian regions, who had applied for voting online. The federal platform of electronic voting recorded a 73 per cent voter turnout on the first day, TASS reported.
As many as 4.76 million people in Russia planned to cast votes on the federal platform, the state agency reported, adding that people in Moscow could vote on the city's own platform and were not required to apply for remote voting prior to the polls.
More than 180 election experts from 58 countries are overseeing the Russian presidential election. They are witnessing the elections at the invitation of the Russian Civic Chamber's (CC) invitation, the CC said in a statement on the Telegram channel, TASS reported.
"At the invitation of the Russian Civic Chamber, 185 foreign election experts from 58 countries came to Russia to independently conduct public observation," the statement read. The message was displayed during the 24-hour online stream of the CC election observing situation centre, according to officials.
The Russian Federation Council, or Upper House of the Duma, initially declared March 17, 2024 as the date for the presidential election. However, later, the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that voting would take place over three days-- from March 15 to 17.
The candidates, who have pitted themselves against Putin for the top post in the country are Vladislav Davankov, Leonid Slutsky and Nikolay Kharitonov.
The New People Party picked Vladislav Davankov to run for the highest office while Putin was a self-designated candidate. Leonid Slutsky of the LDPR party and Nikolay Kharitonov also entered the fray, representing the Communist Party of Russia.
This is the first time that the presidential polls in Russia are being conducted over three days. According to Russian Central Election Commission Chair Ella Pamfilova, the people liked this format as it gives them more opportunity to cast votes in the presidential polls.
Moreover, Putin's reelection would extend his rule until at least 2030. Following constitutional changes in 2020, he would then be able to run again and potentially stay in power until 2036.
(With inputs from ANI)
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First Published:16 Mar 2024, 06:32 AM IST
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