more than 78% of Russians eligible to vote intend to take part in the presidential elections

More than 78% of Russians eligible to vote have told election commission representatives their intention to take part in the presidential elections on March 15–17. This was announced on Monday by the Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, with reference to the results of the InformUIK project, within the framework of which targeted notification of voters was carried out (including, for the first time, at their place of work) about the timing and methods of voting. Another 14% of respondents reported that they would “rather come” to the elections—thus, the declared level of voting participation exceeded 90%. This is much higher than the electoral calculation results presented by VTsIOM on the same day: according to its data, turnout is expected at 71%.

The InformUIK project took place in 88 Russian regions (all except Moscow) and ended on March 7. Almost 331 thousand members of 89,343 precinct election commissions took part in it, who visited almost 57.5 million households and even, as it turned out at the meeting of the Central Election Commission on March 11, visited enterprises. 7.7 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget for the bypass, but most regions also provided additional funding from the local budget for these purposes. “We hope that this enormous work that we have done has not been in vain – we have reached the hearts of voters,” said Ella Pamfilova.

According to the Central Election Commission, members of the commissions visited almost 57.5 million households, as a result of which they were able to clarify the data of almost 80 million voters. A total of 92.5% of respondents reported their intention to vote, the majority of them (82%) intend to do this by coming to the polling station. Another 7.6% of respondents intend to vote at home, while 5.2% preferred remote electronic voting. 1.8% of citizens plan to use the Mobile Voter system. 4% of respondents were undecided about participating in the elections, about 3% do not intend to vote.

Let us note that, according to the electoral calculations of VTsIOM, presented on March 11 at the EISI round table, turnout for the elections on March 15–17 is expected “in the region of 71%.” In these calculations, as sociologists explained, not only the answers to the direct question of whether respondents intend to vote are taken into account, but also their awareness of the fact of elections, interest in them, voting motives, etc.

The InformUIK project was successful, among other things, because voters were friendly, attentive and supported the election commissions, said Elmira Khaimurzina, a member of the Central Election Commission. There were, of course, refusals, she added, but nevertheless, the participants in the round managed to conduct 43.5 million personal conversations.

Another “offshoot” of the project was information at the place of work in work collectives, added Ms. Khaimurzina. As of March 10, members of election commissions held information and explanatory meetings at more than 8 thousand enterprises, and more than 2 million people took part in them. The Central Election Commission intends to conduct a thorough analysis of all the data received so that next time the work will be even more effective and as many people as possible will form the right attitude towards the institution of elections.

“The most important resource is a mental resource, not an administrative one,” explained Mrs. Pamfilova. “If people, voters are treated with great attention and respect, people understand and appreciate it. As soon as people begin to be forced or coerced into something, our people will always find a way to get away from it and, in retaliation, give the opposite result to the imposition.”

The Chairman of the Central Election Commission admitted that at first the InformUIK project did not include enterprises. “This is a new form for us,” she noted. “To come to large enterprises with respect, first of all, with respect for the voter, for his good will, to tell what civilized normal forms are so that it is convenient for a person to express his opinion in the voting process is also a huge new work.” According to Ella Pamfilova, many managers also found it useful to hear how to talk to people. The results of voter assessment of information efforts, according to the head of the Central Election Commission, “exceeded expectations”: 70% of voters were in the mood for dialogue, and another 20% were interested in the information.

To support and motivate the bypass participants, many regional commissions held competitions for the best photographs and videos from there, Ms. Pamfilova said. As a result, the Central Election Commission is now discussing the possibility of rewarding those who distinguished themselves during the event. Possible nominations include, in particular, the headings “where transport has not reached, we have reached” (for inaccessibility), “information in extreme conditions” (frost, blizzard, mountains, etc.), as well as for the most original type of transport , used by crawlers. Electoral officers who took part in rescue operations or combined “business with pleasure” (for example, a visit to a wedding) will have a chance to be rewarded in the “special case” category. Finally, the “master of communication” category should reward crawlers who have the maximum number of comments on social networks or the largest number of contacts.

Anastasia Kornya