The Federation Council has scheduled presidential elections for March 17

The Federation Council (FC) on Thursday unanimously scheduled the next presidential election for March 17, 2024, thereby giving the official start to the presidential campaign. Upper house speaker Valentina Matvienko expressed confidence that in three months Russians will make “the only right choice” by voting for “victory and a future in a strong and sovereign country.” And the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, assured the senators that the electoral system will do everything in its power on this “electoral front.”

The resolution on setting the date for the presidential elections was presented to colleagues by the head of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, Andrei Klishas. He recalled that according to the federal law “On the Presidential Elections of the Russian Federation,” voting is held on the second Sunday of the same month in which it took place last time, that is, March. However, if this week falls on a day off (in this case, March 8), then the elections are postponed to the following Sunday. Thus, Mr. Klishas summarized, the voting will take place on March 17, 2024.

Next, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko took the floor and stated that with this decision the senators were launching the election campaign. “The presidential election is the most important event in the life of the country, which will largely determine the vector of future development,” said Ms. Matvienko. She also added that this is “not just some kind of political procedure,” but first of all “the highest manifestation of the principle of democracy, which underlies Russian statehood, and indeed the entire thousand-year-old Russian civilization.”

“Despite difficult external circumstances, the enemy’s attempts to weaken Russia, destroy our economy, and sow discord in society, we firmly adhere to our main constitutional values, guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens and reaffirm that the bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power is the multinational people,” – emphasized the Chairman of the Federation Council. The Russian electoral system, fortunately, is devoid of “surrogate electoral mechanisms” characteristic of a number of countries that have personally proclaimed themselves a model of democracy, and is based on the direct expression of the will of millions of voters, Valentina Matvienko continued: “They now include residents of reunified regions for whom This will be the first federal election after returning home. They will become a kind of culmination of the reunification of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions with Russia.”

According to Ms. Matvienko, the state must justify the trust of society and prevent the slightest mistakes and negligence during the elections. “Internal legitimacy, people’s trust in the voting results is most important for us, and it is our duty to guarantee such legitimacy,” the speaker noted, emphasizing that “prepared reports from biased foreign organizations that will definitely try to discredit our elections have not been of interest to us for a long time.” . “The whole world will obviously be watching us, because Russia today is one of the main architects of a fair global future. And our people understand this. Our people, I am sure, will make the only right choice, voting for Russia, for victory, for the future in a strong and sovereign country,” stated Valentina Matvienko.

The senators had no questions or comments, so after Ms. Matvienko’s speech they immediately went to voting and approved the resolution unanimously (162 votes in favor).

After this, the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, took the floor. She stated that “for the first time in the history of new Russia, elections will be held in such a toxic geopolitical atmosphere,” when all masks have been dropped, “the remains of decrepit democratic decorations” have collapsed, and in order to “destroy to the core” the cultural code, national traditions and state independence of our The country is ruled by “Russophobia, crazy sanctions and unscrupulous expropriation of everything Russian.” “And all only because our country, while protecting national identity, security and independence, preferred its own path of development, its own multinational Russian world,” Mrs. Pamfilova emphasized.

And that is why the worthy conduct of the upcoming presidential elections is a guarantor of the strengthening and development of Russia, its victory “in this merciless geopolitical battle,” the head of the Central Election Commission continued: “In fact, this is a choice that determines whether or not to be a Russian state, strong, independent and powerful.” .

Mrs. Pamfilova assured the senators that the electoral system has a “powerful margin of safety” in order to hold elections “exactly as our people demand and expect.”

“We are well aware of all the challenges and threats that we will inevitably have to face on our electoral front. We are ready for this and are confident that we will cope: we have accumulated a wealth of experience,” she said.

Next, Ms. Pamfilova listed the advantages of the Russian electoral system, which in many respects has “simply no analogues in the world”: “In terms of transparency, dynamism, efficiency, creativity, openness to civil control and public observation, degree of convenience and accessibility for voters.” And concluding her speech, she said that on Friday the Central Election Commission will decide to hold presidential elections within three days – March 15, 16 and 17. “This is a request from our voters who appreciated this form of voting,” summed up Ms. Pamfilova. Subsequently, the commission will also determine the subjects where remote electronic voting will be used.

When the head of the Central Election Commission finished her speech, one of the senators tried to ask her a question. However, Valentina Matvienko stopped this attempt: “We do not have questions (after the speech.— “Kommersant”). Decision is made”.

Andrey Prah