MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. On September 17, 2021, Russian voters will begin to cast ballots in the elections of the eighth State Duma. The parliamentary elections will be extended over three days: September 17, 18, and 19. Many regions and localities will be also electing local bodies of state power. Half of the Duma members (225) are to be elected on party tickets, and another half in 225 single-mandate constituencies (one legislator from one constituency).
Voter's rights
The elections are held on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot, which is guaranteed by Russia's election legislation regardless of gender, race, nationality, origin, property, or social status, as well as other factors. Active suffrage is granted to all citizens of Russia who have turned 18 by the voting day, who are legally capable, and who are not serving a prison term under a court verdict. Participation in the elections is free and voluntary.
Electorate statistics
As of July 1, 2021, Russia, according to the Central Election Commission, had 108,145,648 registered voters. Another 2,047,140 are outside Russia and 12,515 people at the Baikonur space site (in Kazakhstan). The largest electorate is in Moscow (7,440,212) and the smallest in the Chukotka Autonomous Region (32,641).
Voting procedure
Ballots can be cast at a local polling station next to the place of permanent residence or location.
Those who are unable to attend a polling station for health or age reasons have the right to vote at home. The polling stations will be open from 08:00 to 20:00 local time on election days: September 17, 18, and 19. For the first time in the history of parliamentary elections, voters in seven Russian regions — Moscow and Sevastopol, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Kursk, Murmansk, and Rostov regions — will be able to vote not only at polling stations but also remotely. Participation in distance voting does not require a presence on the territory of this or that precinct on the election days. Ballots can be cast from a PC or mobile phone. All electronic voting participants must be registered on the Unified Portal of Public Services with a confirmed account. As of September 10, 2.2 million applications for participation in online voting were submitted.
Distance voting will be held from 08:00 on September 17 to 20:00 Moscow time on September 19. Traditionally, Russian cosmonauts who on the election days are on a space mission vote through their proxy during a special communication session with Mission Control.
Voters who, on the election days, will be undergoing hospital treatment or a course of rehabilitation in sanatoriums, spending a vacation in countryside retreats, or waiting for their trains or planes at railway stations or airports will be able to vote at specially created polling stations.
Military personnel normally vote at ordinary polling stations (in this case, a representative of the military unit is also included in the election commission) or at polling stations on the garrison's premises.
According to the deputy chair of Russia's Central Election Commission, Nikolai Bulayev, temporary polling stations can be created, if necessary, at closed medical institutions where patients with coronavirus infection are being treated. At the same time, ballot papers and election commission reports will not be taken out in order to prevent the coronavirus infection from spreading. The precinct commissions' reports will be transmitted via communications channels, as is done on the ships away from home.
Early voting
Early voting is envisaged in hard-to-reach or remote areas, on ships during a voyage, at polar stations, as well as in countries where there are no Russian missions.
Early voting in 2021 began on August 29, and it will end on September 16. It will be held in 36 constituent regions of Russia, including the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Kamchatka, Krasnoyarsk, Primorsky, Khabarovsk, Magadan, Murmansk regions, Khanty-Mansiysk, and Chukotka regions, and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region.
On September 3, early voting began for Russian voters at 93 foreign polling stations in 53 countries.
Voting outside Russia
Russian citizens residing or staying outside of Russia, have equal electoral rights with the electorate at home. Voting abroad is arranged for at Russian embassies or consulates.
In 2021, 348 polling stations were created in 143 countries of the world (in 2016 — 372 polling stations in 147 countries). Registration at diplomatic offices is not needed. To cast a ballot it is enough to come to the polling station with a Russian passport or any ID that can substitute for it. Some voters abroad will have a chance to vote online.