MOSCOW, September 11. /TASS/. On September 12, 2025, Russia will hold elections for regional and local offices as part of the Single Voting Day (SVD). According to election law, the SVD is held annually on the second Sunday of September,which falls on September 14 this year. In some regions, voting will take place over multiple days, but not more than three.
TASS Factbox editors have compiled key facts and figures about Russia’s Single Voting Day.
Single Voting Day
Introduced in 2005, Single Voting Day is the designated voting date in Russia for elections at various levels. The inaugural SVD was held in 2006. Until 2012, elections were held twice a year. Starting in 2013, that was cut to once a year. A total of 26 election campaigns were held within the SVD framework.
Establishment of Single Voting Day
Since the 1990s, the Russian Federation’s entities have independently set the date of regional and municipal elections. As a rule, heads of regions were elected to serve terms of 4-5 years (in 2005-2012, no direct elections were held, with the exception of the Nenets Autonomous Region in early 2005). In October 2004, Alexander Veshnyakov, who was the chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission at that time, proposed to establish an annual Single Voting Day in March, with an additional "reserve" day for the month of October.
On July 21, 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law "On Amendments to Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on Elections and Referendums and Other Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation." The document stipulated two equal unified voting days in regional and local elections: the second Sunday in March and the second Sunday in October in cases where officials’ terms are expiring. If the regional elections coincided with the federal elections (the presidential election and the election to the Russian Parliament’s lower House of State Duma), they were all held on the same day. That law took effect in 2006.
Single Voting Day Date Shifts
At a meeting with the Russian president on April 5, 2012, representatives of a number of Russian regions proposed an initiative to establish one Single Voting Day per year instead of two. The second Sunday in September was suggested as a possible date.
On October 2, 2012, the Russian president signed amendments to the laws on political parties and on basic guarantees of the electoral rights of Russian citizens. According to the signed amendments, the Single Voting Day was scheduled to be held annually on the second Sunday of September, when official duties of local and municipal officials expire. That date also stipulated aligning it with State Duma elections in election years. The document entered into force on November 1 of the same year. Therefore, since then Single Voting Day has been held once a year, in September.
Decision to Combine SVD with State Duma Elections
Based on a State Duma initiative from November 3, 2015, a law was passed on postponing the federal parliamentary elections and combining them with the Single Voting Day in September (the State Duma lawmakers were elected previously to that date in the month of December). In line with the amendments to the law "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right of Citizens of the Russian Federation to Participate in a referendum," the Single Voting Day had been held since 2016 on the third Sunday of September of the year for the State Duma elections, and in the interval between parliamentary campaigns, it was scheduled for the second Sunday of September. In case the second Sunday of September coincided with a public holiday it was shifted to the day preceding or following it, therefore the election was slated for the third Sunday of September.
Single Voting Day in 2006-2019
The first regional and municipal elections on the Single Voting Day were held in 2006 - on March 12 and October 8.
In 2007, elections were held on March 11 and December 2 (the day of the State Duma elections). In 2008, they took place on March 2 (the same day as the Russian presidential election) and on October 12. In 2009, the SVD was organized on March 1 and October 11, in 2010 - on March 14 and October 10, in 2011 - on March 13 and December 4 (the State Duma elections’ date). In 2012, the Single Voting Day was combined with the presidential election on March 4, and on October 14, the first direct elections of the governors of the Amur, Belgorod, Bryansk, Novgorod and Ryazan Regions, were held.
Following the official confirmation of the September Single Voting Day, voting was held: in 2013 - on September 8, in 2014 - on September 14, in 2015 - on September 13. In 2016, the SVD was combined with the elections of lawmakers representing the State Duma’s 4th convocation on September 18. In 2017, elections in Russian regions within the framework of the Single Voting Day were held on September 10, in 2018 - on September 9, in 2019 - on September 8.
Single Voting Day in 2020-2024
In 2020, the election format in most Russian regions was changed - being held over the course of three days instead of one as previously. The main voting day was September 13, with additional days on September 11 and 12. This procedure was authorized by the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Russia on July 24, 2020, based on amendments made to the electoral legislation on May 23, 2020. The amendments granted the CEC the right to determine the procedure and timing of citizens' voting "in order to form conditions for protecting the health of voters (due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection)."
A federal law was enacted on July 31, 2020 that provided for a possibility of holding federal, regional, and municipal elections and referendums over several consecutive days, but no more than three days. The 2020 voting lasted for three days (from September 11-13) in the regions where by-elections to the State Duma were held, as well as elections of the executive and legislative authorities of the Russian entities and their administrative centers. It was combined with municipal elections with September 13 marking the culmination of these elections.
The SVD in 2021 was timed with the elections to the State Duma of the 8th Convocation. According to the decision of the CEC, the voting took place within three days - from September 17-19.
In 2022, local election commissions representing 12 out of 18 Russian constituencies, where elections of governors and deputies of legislative assemblies were about to be held, decided to vote within the framework of the SVD’s three days - from September 9-11. In three other Russian regions, North Ossetia, the Kirov and Tomsk Regions, elections were held within two days, namely on September 10 and 11. In the republics of Buryatia, Mari El and the Sverdlovsk Region, voting took place on September 11.
In 2023, the voting in by-elections of the State Duma deputies as well as in the majority of elections of governors and deputies of legislative assemblies were held within a three-day period, on September 8, 9 and 10. Exceptions were imposed to elections of governors in the Omsk and Tyumen Regions, where voting took place on September 9-10 and September 10, respectively, and the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Bashortstan and Buryatia (September 10). The Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions took part in the SVD for the first time ever back then.
The next year, in 2024, the voting in the by-elections to the State Duma and in most regional elections also consumed a time-period of three days: on September 6, 7 and 8. In the elections for the governor of the Murmansk and Chelyabinsk Regions, voters cast their votes on September 7 and 8, in the elections of the head of the Kurgan Region and deputies of the parliaments of Kabardino-Balkaria, Tatarstan and Tuva - only on September 8.
Single Voting Day in 2025
In 2025, election campaigns and local referendums will be organized in 81 out of 89 federal constituencies. In total, more than 5,000 election campaigns and local referendums will be staged, and about 47,000 officials will be challenged with their elected mandates. The upcoming election procedure also includes direct elections of the heads of 20 subjects of the Russian Federation, deputies of 11 regional legislative assemblies. The head of the Nenets Autonomous Region will be elected by lawmakers of the local parliament (indirect vote in other words).
Voting in 19 of the 20 Russian gubernatorial elections will be held over three days: September 12, 13 and 14. The only exception is the election procedure in regard to the head of the Republic of Tatarstan, where voters will be able to cast their votes on September 14 only. Overall, in 11 Russian regions, where elections of executives of regional authorities and lawmakers are scheduled to take place, local residents will be able to vote within a few days in 10 regions - on September 12, 13 and 14, plus in the Kurgan Region - on September 13 and 14.