Moscow may refuse to open polling stations for “presidential elections” in the countries included by the Russian authorities in the list of unfriendly countries. In particular, the list includes the EU, the US, Australia, the UK, Switzerland, Montenegro, Japan, partially recognized Taiwan, and a total of 49 countries. This is reported by the newspaper Vedomosti.
Voting in the “election” is scheduled for mid-March. According to Vedomosti, the reason for the possible decision in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the security of voters. In the case of consulates, the question of the formation of polling stations abroad according to documents is approved by the heads of consular institutions.
In the “presidential election” in 2018, 444 thousand people voted abroad. According to the official results, 85 percent of voters voted for Vladimir Putin, more than the national average (his overall result was 76.6 percent).
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of people dissatisfied with Russia’s policies left Russia. More than 94,000 Russians received new residence permits in EU countries and in 2022 alone.
The closure of polling stations in so-called unfriendly countries will not allow Russians to take part in “elections”. Electronic voting from abroad is not provided.
