Central Election Commission allowed new regions to hold elections – Kommersant

The Central Election Commission (CEC) unanimously approved the request of all four new constituent entities of the Russian Federation to hold elections there on the upcoming Single Voting Day. This decision was made following consultations with the Ministry of Defense and the FSB, said Ella Pamfilova, chairman of the Central Election Commission. For security reasons, the regions are allowed to reduce the timing of electoral actions, but not more than by half. The CEC intends to notify the President of the decision taken today, as the law requires, Ms. Pamfilova reminded. Regions must submit calendar plans for the preparation and conduct of elections to the CEC.

In total, according to the CEC, about 80 election campaigns will be held in the new regions. Thus, elections of deputies of the People’s Council (parliament) and representative bodies of 21 municipalities will be held in the Donetsk People’s Republic. In the Lugansk People’s Republic, in addition to the deputies of the People’s Council, representative bodies of 28 municipalities will also be elected. In the Zaporozhye region, deputies of the Legislative Assembly and representative bodies of 16 municipalities will be elected. Finally, elections of the regional parliament and representative bodies of 14 municipalities are coming up in the Kherson region.

Elections in all four constituent entities of the Russian Federation will be held within three days, while by decision of the regional election commissions, all additional types of voting can be used in them – both early (for hard-to-reach areas with difficult transport links) and voting outside polling stations. Such a design will allow avoiding the concentration of voters and minimizing the risks, explained Nikolay Bulaev, deputy chairman of the CEC.

Anastasia Kornya