2024-03-15 20:32:56
On the first day of voting in the presidential elections in St. Petersburg, 30.57% of voters came to the polling stations. This is more than 1.16 million people. Already in the middle of the day, at 15:00, the City Election Commission recorded a record high turnout for the city of 16.34% (620,950 people).
For comparison: in 2021, on the first day of three-day voting in the State Duma elections, 3.7% of voters came to the polling stations before 16:00. And for the whole day – 10.6%. Based on the results of the three-day voting in 2021, the turnout in St. Petersburg was 37.35%.
During the presidential election this year, not only is there an unprecedentedly high turnout, but also incidents at the polling stations. Thus, in the Moskovsky district of St. Petersburg, a 21-year-old girl was detained for throwing a Molotov cocktail on the porch of a school where two PECs are located. Similar events are happening in other cities of Russia: they are trying to set fire to some polling stations, and in others they are pouring liquid (for example, brilliant green) into ballot boxes.
“We are closely monitoring the situation throughout the country. Security forces and law enforcement agencies are very attentive, and appropriate decisions are made. We see that, in principle, the security measures are unprecedented. After all, everyone understands at what time elections are held – under the conditions of a special military operation. Additional measures are a question for law enforcement agencies to a greater extent than for us,” said Yuri Kuzmin, a voting member of the St. Petersburg Election Commission.
According to the representative of the Public Chamber, Mikhail Kuzmin, this year Russian society mobilized against the backdrop of hostilities and information attacks.
“People rallied. People say: we are electing the Supreme Commander-in-Chief,” Kuzmin said.
The City Electoral Commission noted a high turnout from 8–9 am on the first day of voting. The commission expects a large number of people at the polling stations on the last, main day of elections.
This year, United Russia launched an online platform to monitor people’s turnout at polling stations. It is emphasized that it is aimed only at party supporters who voluntarily agree to use the platform. When leaving polling stations, people scan a QR code to report that they voted.
Russia is holding three-day presidential elections. For the remaining two days, March 16 and 17, polling stations in St. Petersburg will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In total, there are 1,947 permanent polling stations in the city, and 47 temporary ones in medical and social institutions. Video surveillance will be carried out at 1,831 polling stations. The exceptions were 116 polling stations where military personnel vote and in closed medical institutions.
In addition, the city election commission approved the opening of polling stations on 71 ships. Voting will take place at seven polar stations, including the northernmost Russian Antarctic station, Bellingshausen. Almost 2,000 people will be able to voice their voices on ships and polar stations.
In total, 3.8 million people have active voting rights in St. Petersburg. More than 85 thousand young people will come to vote for the first time. 260 thousand voters took advantage of the opportunity to change their polling station at their location.
Four candidates are participating in the elections: self-nominated Vladimir Putin, Leonid Slutsky from the LDPR, Nikolai Kharitonov from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Vladislav Davankov from the New People party.
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