CEC: the election commission in the Kherson region was evacuated due to shelling

The election commission in the Kherson region was evacuated due to a missile attack. This was announced by the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova and her deputy Nikolai Bulaev.

“The fact is that the situation is changing here in Kherson. We had to evacuate the commission,” Pamfilova said. According to her, this is due to shelling in the region.

Bulaev clarified that a missile attack had been announced in the region. According to him, the election commissions of the constituent entities had to be moved to “an alternate airfield where there is no video conferencing.”

A single voting day is scheduled for September 10 in Russia. Elections from September 8 to 10 are also being held for the first time in new regions – the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Previously Pamfilova spokethat the CEC may postpone elections in some areas of new regions at the last minute if the situation worsens and a threat to the safety of voters arises.

New regions became part of the Russian Federation following the results of referendums on September 30, 2022. Since October of the same year, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, martial law was introduced in the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

At the end of May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that excludes the ban on holding referendums and elections to government bodies in those regions where martial law is in effect. According to the adopted document, the head of such a subject can send an application to the CEC to hold elections or a referendum. The CEC is obliged to consider the application within five days and consult with the FSB and the Ministry of Defense.