Voting starts in Russian presidential election

Shafaq News/ Voting for the Russian presidential elections began on Friday, with polling stations opening for voters. Citizens across Russia and the incorporated Ukrainian territories are participating in a three-day electoral process to elect the president.

Due to Russia's vast expanse across multiple time zones, voting commenced at 8:00 AM local time on Friday in the easternmost territories of the Kamchatka Peninsula and Chukotka, aligning with 23:00 Moscow time on Thursday.

Four candidates are competing for the top position: Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party, Nikolai Kharitonov of the Russian Communist Party, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party, and the incumbent president, Vladimir Putin, who is running as an independent candidate, as reported by Xinhua.

President Vladimir Putin is expected to win and secure a fifth presidential term.

Opposition leaders see this election as an opportunity to gauge public sentiment on the Ukrainian conflict that began two years ago.

Russia has established over 90,000 polling stations operating from 8 am to 8 pm local time between March 15 and 17. According to data from the Russian Central Election Commission, approximately 110 million Russian citizens are eligible to vote, including more than 1.8 million residing abroad.

In accordance with Russian presidential election regulations, a candidate who receives more than 50 per cent of the votes will win. If no candidate achieves this threshold and there are more than two contenders, the Central Election Commission will call for a second round of voting between the top two candidates. The candidate with the most votes in the second round will be elected president.

The Russian Central Election Commission will confirm the election results soon after voting concludes on Sunday, with the inauguration of the elected president scheduled for May.