The Central Election Commission allowed voting with a Ukrainian passport in the presidential elections in new regions

The possibility of voting with a Ukrainian passport in the Russian presidential elections in new regions is due to the situation in which voters find themselves, said Ella Pamfilova, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. She clarified that the final decision on the documents will be made by regional authorities.

“In my opinion, this is the only correct decision,” Ms. Pamfilova answered a TASS question about whether voting with a Ukrainian passport is acceptable. The head of the Central Election Commission clarified that in June, during flooding in the Kherson region due to the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, local residents “lost not only their houses, but also documents, including already issued Russian passports.”

In her opinion, it is important that people who permanently reside in new regions, but have not yet received a Russian passport or have lost it, “have the right to vote using the document that proves their identity.” “This is a completely justified and correct decision for this specific period, until the situation stabilizes,” the head of the Central Election Commission is confident.

Presidential elections will be held March 15–17, 2024. In December the Central Election Commission approved special procedure for presidential elections in new regions. According to it, local residents will be allowed to vote not only with a passport, information about polling stations and members of commissions will be classified, a special accreditation procedure will be established for the media, and election commissions will be able to reduce the duration of voting.

About preparations for the elections – in the material “Kommersant” “Personnel decided almost everything”.

Laura Keffer