Turnout in Russian presidential election exceeds 36%

The Russian presidential election continues. March 16 will be the second day of voting, which will last until March 17 evening. The first day of voting, March 15, was already marked by a high turnout.

Both offline and online

According to the latest data from the Russian Central Election Commission, the overall turnout in person was 36.12 per cent, with some regions, including the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Kherson Region and Chukotka, exceeding 60 per cent. Russians are also actively voting online, TASS reports.

By late Friday evening, more than 3.5 million ballots had been issued on the federal platform for remote electronic voting, while a total of 4.76 million people had registered to vote online. The turnout was 74 per cent.

Voting on the federal platform is being held in 28 Russia’s regions, with Moscow residents voting on their own platform. According to the latest data, more than 2.5 million people took part in the remote electronic voting in the capital.

Four candidates will vie for the top office, namely New People party nominee Vladislav Davankov; self-nominated candidate and incumbent President Vladimir Putin; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) nominee Leonid Slutsky; and Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) nominee Nikolay Kharitonov.

Eight candidates competed in the last presidential election in 2018.