MOSCOW, March 7./TASS/. About 27,000 people have cast their ballots in the Russian presidential election prior to the scheduled election day, which is 0.02% of the eligible voters, Central Election Commission Chairperson Ella Pamfilova said on Wednesday.
She said that starting from February 25, early voting is possible in 30 Russian regions at the polling stations in hard-of-access or remote locations, on ships that will be afloat on the voting day, at polar stations as well as abroad.
About 170,000 people will be able to avail of the early voting, Pamfilova said. "As of today, 27,000 people in 24 regions have cast their ballots ahead of time, which is 0.02%," she added.
The Russian presidential election will be held on March 18, 2018.
Eight contenders are presently running for Russia’s presidency. Among them incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will participate as an independent candidate, LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and businessman Pavel Grudinin nominated by the CPRF. Other candidates include Yabloko party co-founder Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the Party of Growth business ombudsman Boris Titov, head of the Russian People’s Union party and former Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Sergey Baburin, TV host Ksenia Sobchak (nominated by Civil Initiative) and head of the Communists of Russia Maxim Suraikin.