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Kremlin says COVID-19 won’t affect turnout at Russian constitutional amendments vote

On Monday, Putin approved July 1 as the new date for the vote

© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that the coronavirus situation in Russia would not affect the turnout at the Russian constitutional amendments vote.

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Putin approves July 1 as date for constitutional amendments vote

"We don’t think that the remaining epidemiological situation will affect the turnout, but I wouldn’t want to predict any percentages," he said in response to a request to provide a potential turnout figure.

The Kremlin spokesman added that the date had been offered by members of the working group on constitutional amendments and approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday June 1. "As we’ve already said, we note that the epidemiological situation is gradually improving. You see that there are more people every day on the streets all over the country, and we can confidently predict that in the next few weeks <…> the situation will significantly improve," Peskov noted.

To date, a total of 423,741 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 186,985 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 5,037 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.

About the constitutional amendments vote

On March 11, the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) approved the final reading of the constitutional amendments bill proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. On the same day, it was approved by the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) and Russia’s regional parliaments.

The text of the bill was published on the official legal information portal. After the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which states that the bill does not violate the Constitution, a public vote will be held. If over 50% of the Russian public approve of the changes, the bill will enter into force.

The vote was initially set to take place on April 22, however, Putin chose to postpone it due to the situation with the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Russia. During a working session on Monday, Putin approved July 1, 2020 as the new date for the vote. The vote will be held over a seven-day period ending on July 1 due to epidemiological concerns.

The document proposes to expand the powers of the Russian parliament and the Russian Constitutional Court, a fixed number of presidential terms, as well as the prevalence of the Russian Constitution over international agreements. The document also expands the government’s obligations in the social sphere. The amendments to the Constitution stipulate that the Russian head of state can only serve two terms, however, one of the amendments proposes that the current president can be re-elected if the new version of the Constitution comes into force.

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