MOSCOW, February 28 Number of polling stations for abroad has decreased by 113, polling stations will not open due to the fault of the countries in which they are located, said Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation Nikolai Bulaev.
At a meeting of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, commission member Pavel Andreev said that in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation the number of places for early Voting abroad will be less than in previous years.
«Pavel Viktorovich said that it was not possible to create polling stations everywhere. If my memory serves me right, there are 113 fewer of them. 113 polling stations will not open and it is not the fault of Russia, they will not open due to the fault of those countries where our diplomatic missions are located,» — said Bulaev.
The deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission cited the situation in Germany as an example, where instead of 15 polling stations, only 2 were opened.
“This means that those who are in Germany have no real opportunity to vote will not be through the fault of Russia, but because the host country did not give the opportunity to open these polling stations, and citizens will not be able to exercise their active voting rights,” Bulaev said.
He called for talking “every day” about “who, where and when” does not give Russian citizens the opportunity to vote in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation.
“People must understand, know by name, where and who made such decisions. Otherwise, in the end they will say: “The Central Election Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not organize it,” Bulaev said.
He noted that the Central Election Commission did everything possible: they prepared ballots, trained members of the commissions, prepared technological equipment, prepared communication channels for transmitting the protocol.
“But we were unable to open polling stations, in this case the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because they simply forbade them to open, did not provide security, they do not respond to letters, embassies do not respond… Citizens living abroad must understand that they were deprived of the right to express their position,” — said Bulaev.
The Federation Council has appointed presidential elections for March 17, 2024. Voting will last three days: March 15, 16 and 17.
Four candidates registered by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation are vying for the post of head of state: Leonid Slutsky, Nikolai Kharitonov, Vladislav Davankov and Vladimir Putin.