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Putin signs decree on holding constitutional amendments vote on July 1

At a meeting with the Central Election Commission and members of the working group on amendments to the Fundamental Law, the president backed the proposal to hold the vote on July 1

MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on holding the nationwide vote on constitutional amendments on July 1, the Kremlin press office reported on Monday.

"I decree to set July 1, 2020 as the date for holding the all-Russia voting on the issue of approving amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation <…>, taking into account the sanitary and epidemiological situation and the need to ensure the sanitary and epidemiological safety of the population in the wake of the spread of the novel coronavirus infection," the Kremlin press office quoted the presidential decree as saying.

At a meeting with the Central Election Commission and members of the working group on amendments to the Fundamental Law, Putin backed the proposal to hold the vote on July 1.

In his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly in January 2020, Putin proposed amendments to the country’s Fundamental Law to bring the document more in line with present-day realities and seal the results achieved.

The State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliament) approved the presidential bill in the final reading on March 11, following its discussion within the Duma’s working group. The document was adopted by the Federation Council (the upper house of Russia’s parliament) on the same day, following which the document was approved by the legislatures of all the Russian regions.

Consequently, the Federation Council adopted a resolution on March 14 and sent it to the president.

After that, Putin signed a decree, scheduling the all-Russian vote on constitutional amendments for April 22. However, the Russian president said in a televised address to the nation on March 25 that the voting should be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As the head of state said at the time, it was necessary to estimate how the situation would develop and make a decision on a new date of voting based on experts’ recommendations. The amendments will come into force only if they are approved at the all-Russian vote.

Russia’s Central Election Commission published a resolution on May 21 aimed at restarting preparations for the all-Russian vote on amendments to the Constitution.