NEW YORK, March 13. /TASS/. Tens of thousands of Russian nationals residing in the United States will be able to cast their votes this week in the Russian presidential election, Russian Consul General in New York Alexander Zakharov said on Wednesday.
"We are expecting a big influx in the number of voters this year," Zakharov said, speaking to Russian journalists. "We certainly have lists of everyone registered with the Russian Consulate General’s Office."
"I mean the entire [Russian New York] consular district encompasses 15 [US] states and not just New York alone," he continued. "Dozens of thousands of our compatriots are residing here. We hope to have a full house [during the election]."
Zakharov reiterated that expatriate Russian nationals will be eligible to cast their ballots at polling stations set up outside of Russia only if they can present valid ID documents, which must be either a Russian foreign passport, a diplomatic passport, a service passport or a laissez-passer certificate.
The Russian Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, officially designated March 17, 2024 as the day of the presidential election. The Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) then announced that voting will take place over three days on March 15-17, making it Russia’s first three-day presidential election.
Four candidates will vie for the top office, namely New People party nominee Vladislav Davankov; self-nominated candidate and incumbent President Vladimir Putin; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) nominee Leonid Slutsky; and Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) nominee Nikolay Kharitonov.