ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 23. /TASS/. More than 400,000 Russian citizens permanently residing in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics will be able to take part in the elections to the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) in September thanks to the remote electronic voting procedure, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Viktor Vodolatsky told TASS on Friday.

"As of today, 611,320 people in Donbass are Russian citizens. In order to vote on September 17-19, they need to obtain an individual insurance account number (SNILS). People are very active in this matter, many did so when obtaining passports. I believe that from 400,000 to 450,000 people will be able to obtain that document by September," he said.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) approved the procedure for remote electronic voting in the September elections. It will be used in elections at various levels in seven regions, including Moscow, Sevastopol, the Yaroslavl and Rostov regions. It noted that voters had to be users of the unified public services portal with verified accounts.

On June 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order on holding the vote to the State Duma of the eighth convocation on Election Day, September 19, 2021. The election will run for three days - September 17, 18 and 19. In addition to the State Duma race, direct voting to elect the heads of nine Russian constituent entities and 39 regional parliaments will be held. In three more regions, the top officials will be elected by legislative assemblies.