The Central Election Commission approved three-day voting for the 2024 presidential elections
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The Central Election Commission announced the first three-day presidential election in the country’s history. They will last three days – from Friday, March 15, to Sunday, March 17, and will be held under the V sign, made in the colors of the Russian tricolor – this is what the campaign logo looks like. New regions, Crimea and the border areas will be allowed to vote under special conditions, and buses converted into mobile voting stations will be allowed into villages.
The first since the official start of the campaign commission meeting took place in the hall, which was renovated especially for the presidential elections: the members of the Central Election Commission were seated in a semicircle on the presidium, and the number of chairs in the hall was noticeably thinned out, but, however, a balcony appeared. Before the start of the meeting, members of the Central Election Commission concentrated on attaching to their lapels pins with the campaign logo in the form of a Latin V, executed in the colors of the tricolor – this is what the logo of the new campaign looks like (on the side there is a blue vertical inscription – “Russian presidential elections”, the date “March 15–17, 2024” made in red). The V-shaped badge turned out to be large and placing it on the lapel of the jacket was not so easy. The meeting began with a solemn performance national anthemwhich at some point suddenly fell silent – and those present started to sit down, but then the anthem sounded again, and they had to stand still.
The issue of holding voting in the presidential election was first on the agenda for several days in a row. The commission is given up to ten days to make such a decision, recalled CEC Chairman Ella Pamfilova, but she decided to do everything as quickly as possible in order to begin informing citizens as early as possible. The Chairman of the Central Election Commission noted that voting over three days is already becoming traditional for our electoral system: previously it was used in elections to the State Duma, and during the single voting day in the fall of 2023, 51 out of 59 regions took advantage of this opportunity.
In 1917, elections to the Constituent Assembly were also held over three days, the chairman of the Central Executive Committee suddenly remembered.
“We have to remember our history,” she explained. The CEC also approved special voting formats for exceptional cases. Thus, on September 15–16, voting by groups of voters living in hard-to-reach places where there are no voting premises can be used in all regions.
In nine regions: DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions (if the Central Election Commission allows voting there after consultations with the Ministry of Defense and the FSB), as well as in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, Sevastopol and Crimea, voting can be held on all three days local areas (it is also called voting “on stumps” among experts). This form of voting was in demand during the pandemic, but now it has practically been abandoned, Pamfilova recalled, but the situation in the border regions demands it again. In any case, the chairman of the Central Election Commission emphasized, during such a vote all procedural requirements must be met “in order to cut the ground from under the feet of ill-wishers,” and the presence of observers must be present.
Also, at these elections, according to the chairman of the Central Election Commission, mobile voting points equipped in buses will be used (this practice has already been successfully tested in a number of regions), and safe packages for storing ballots with increased protection.
Only CEC member Evgeniy Kolyushin objected to the decision on a three-day vote: in his opinion, the reference to the Constituent Assembly is “historically pessimistic.” With traditionally high turnout, which is typical for presidential elections, there is no need to stimulate it with the help of additional voting days, and, in the end, the Federation Council elections appointed on March 17, and not 15, 16 and 17, Mr. Kolyushin argued. The CEC is not fighting for a high turnout, but for additional guarantees of the right to expression of will, CEC member Nikolai Levichev objected, and as a result, the remaining members of the commission voted for a three-day period.
Also on Friday, the CEC approved the calendar plan for the current campaign. Let us remind you that from the moment the elections were announced, the stage of nominating candidates began. Parties will be able to do this until January 1, self-nominated candidates must meet the deadline by December 27. Documents for registering candidates (remember that representatives of parliamentary parties do not collect signatures, nominees from other parties must submit 100 thousand signatures in their support, self-nominated candidates must collect 300 thousand signatures) must be submitted to the CEC no later than 18:00 on January 31, The commission has ten days to check them and make a decision on registration. But from the moment the consent to run is submitted to the CEC, the candidate receives the right to conduct election campaigning, and the campaign period in the media will begin on February 17 and last until March 15.
Until February 15, the CEC must draw lots for free airtime. Political parties that have nominated their candidate are required to publish their election program by March 6. From February 25, early voting can be held on ships, polar stations and in hard-to-reach areas. You can submit an application to be included in the voter list from January 29 until 24:00 on March 11 inclusive; similar deadlines are provided for submitting an application to vote online (remote electronic voting will also take place for three days, March 15–17). The CEC must sum up the voting results no later than March 28, and three days are given for the official publication of the election results from the date of signing the protocol.
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