MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. More than 383,000 voters cast their ballots in the Russian presidential election abroad at 288 polling stations, Territorial Election Commission (TEC) Chairwoman for management of polling stations abroad Evgenia Orlova said.

According to the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) press service, a TEC meeting was held on Tuesday, which was attended by CEC Deputy Chairman Nikolay Bulayev and CEC member Pavel Andreyev. "[A total of] 288 election commissions were formed abroad," Orlova said, as quoted by the press service. "383,553 people took part in the voting. There were no complaints or appeals from citizens about the actions of the foreign TECs," she added.

The TEC established the results of voting of Russian citizens residing abroad at polling stations. The commission members signed the protocol on voting results and summary tables.

Bulayev thanked the TEC members and applauded the commission for its tireless efforts. "The Russian CEC initially assumed that all diplomatic missions would conduct voting in the vast majority of countries. Of course, restrictions imposed by unfriendly nations prevented many people living in countries where voting was traditionally held from attending. But the task that the Russian CEC and the Russian Foreign Ministry set for themselves has been fully resolved," Bulayev said.

"It is important [to note] that the necessary security for voting was provided in various countries, except for the most odious ones. Everything went off without any significant hitches," Andreyev noted. "The number of citizens who were able to vote, considering the reduction in the number of polling stations and the reduction in the possibility of early voting, is impressive. Based on what we have learned, we need to approach the next campaign with even more preparation," he added.

Four candidates ran in Russia’s first three-day presidential election on March 15-17, 2024, 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.