Voting in March will also take place in the occupied territories
Voting in the presidential elections of Russia in March 2024 will also take place in the occupied territories of Ukraine, the annexation of which was previously announced by the Russian authorities. The Russian Central Election Commission made a decision on this on Monday.
According to the CEC, it held consultations on the possibility of holding elections on the territory of four regions where martial law has been imposed.” These are the Zaporozhye, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions (in official Russian terminology – “DPR” and “LPR”). It is confirmed that the representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the FSB and the Russian authorities of the regions spoke in favor of holding the vote.
Voting in local government elections was already held in these territories in September. Election commissions formed by Russia reported a high turnout.
At the same time, active hostilities continue in these territories. None of the four regions is completely under the control of Russia. In particular, two regional centers – Kherson and Zaporozhye – are under the control of Ukraine.
Amendments to the legislation allowing voting under martial law were previously adopted.
Martial law has not been introduced in the annexed Crimea and Sevastopol, and voting in the presidential elections of Russia was already held there – in 2018. Voting in these regions was not recognized as legitimate by Western countries.
The news is updated
