Test electronic voting will take place in Moscow before the presidential election

The head of the Public Headquarters for Observing Elections in Moscow, Vadim Kovalev, said at the first meeting of the headquarters on February 12 that face-to-face classes with observers from the Public Chamber corps selected to work in the presidential elections will begin on Wednesday, February 14.

“Last year, at the first meeting of the headquarters, we approved the Observer Code – a set of requirements, rights and responsibilities for all observers,” said Mr. Kovalev. “For example, all our observers on voting days must use a special mobile application “Mobile Observer”, and also wear distinctive sign – a checkered vest. It is also important that only those who have completed training and successfully passed testing are allowed to be observed.”

The meeting of the headquarters was also attended by deputy heads of headquarters Alexander Asafov and Ilya Massukh, members of the Public Chamber of the city of Moscow, head of the Department for Improving Territorial Administration and Development of Smart Projects of the Moscow Government Artem Kostyrko, as well as Chairman of the Moscow City Election Commission Olga Kirillova and representatives of political parties.

Mr. Kostyrko, in particular, recalled that the remote electronic voting system has been operating in Moscow since 2019 and is traditionally tested on the eve of elections. This year, they intend to test the operation of the electronic voting system in early March: “On the eve of the elections, we, as always, plan to conduct a test vote. It will take place on elec.mos.ru. As a rule, most users prefer to vote first thing in the morning. To minimize queues during peak hours, we suggest that participants do not log into their personal account on mos.ru, but immediately follow the voting link – elec.mos.ru“- noted Mr. Kostyrko.

According to him, during the test voting it is planned to try out an additional authorization method to minimize queues waiting for an authorization SMS. Some users, instead of a message with a code, will receive a call to the phone number specified in their personal account on mos.ru. To go to the ballot, you will need to enter the last four digits of the incoming number in a special field.

Vadim Kovalev suggested that his colleagues at the headquarters send options for wording the question for testing. Members of the Public Headquarters can send them to the office of the Public Chamber of Moscow until February 20, 2024. The question should have several answer options and relate to the life of the capital. The best options will be discussed at the next headquarters meeting.

Let us remind you that the presidential elections will be held from March 15 to 17, 2024.

How voters will be rewarded for participating in the presidential elections – in the material “Prizes on the spot”.

Ivan Tyazhlov