The main voting in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation takes place over three days – from March 15 to 17. A three-day vote, as CEC Chairman Ella Pamfilova previously explained, will allow those Russians who cannot do it in one day, for example, due to their work schedule, to go to the polling station. More than 94 thousand polling stations were prepared to receive voters.
The early period began on February 25 and voting ended on March 14. During this time, about 2 million Russian citizens managed to cast their votes.
Four candidates are running in the elections. Vice Speaker of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov is running from the New People party. The current President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, was registered as a self-nominated candidate in 2024. Another participant in the election race was the leader of the LDPR, Leonid Slutsky. State Duma deputy Nikolai Kharitonov was nominated from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
During these presidential elections, remote electronic voting (DEG) is actively used; this method of expression of will is available to residents of 29 Russian regions. According to the CEC, as of March 14, almost 4.8 million Russians submitted applications to participate in the DEG. Residents of Moscow, Sevastopol, Karelia, Crimea, Chuvashia, Altai, Kamchatka and Perm territories, Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Vladimir, Vologda, Voronezh, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, can cast their vote via the Internet. Novosibirsk, Pskov, Rostov, Sverdlovsk, Tomsk, Chelyabinsk and Yaroslavl regions, Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The ceremony for sharing the keys for decrypting electronic ballots took place on March 14.
According to the Central Election Commission, the preliminary election results will be announced before lunch on March 18.
