There will be early voting again in the occupied territories

In the occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, early voting in the presidential elections of Russia was allowed, including at home. “Kommersant” writes about this with reference to local election committees.

According to the law, early voting is possible “in hard-to-reach or remote areas, on ships that will be afloat on the day of voting, at polar stations.” According to the chairwoman of the Zaporozhye election committee, Halyna Katyushchenko, “due to the conditions of the SVO [так российские власти называют войну в Украине – РС]”the entire territory of the region is considered inaccessible.

Early voting was also held in the occupied territories in September 2023. According to the Central Election Commission, 26 to 53% of all voters voted early there, depending on the region.

Earlier, the CEC of Russia published the “peculiarities” of holding elections during the period of martial law in force in the occupied territories. Among other things, the CEC allowed to vote without a passport, to accredit journalists “in a special order”, and also to move ballots and other documents “to a safe place” in case of a threat.

The CEC justified such measures “with the need to ensure the safety of all voting participants.” Some of the provisions directly contradict the federal law “On Elections of the President of the Russian Federation”.