MOSCOW, July 4 Muscovites will be able to vote on elections of deputies of the Moscow City Duma and municipal deputies in the TiNAO in September electronically — online or at the polling station, as well as using paper ballots, while voting using ballots becomes declarative, this decision was made at a meeting of the Moscow City Election Commission on Thursday.
On Thursday, the Moscow City Election Commission approved the procedure for electronic voting in the September elections of deputies to the Moscow City Duma and municipal deputies in the TiNAO.
“The laws of public life are such that technology always outstrips established rules, including in the electoral process. The task of election commissions is to provide voting rules dictated by the interests of voters. It is undeniable that the use of online voting, special voting terminals and an electronic list in Moscow voters like Muscovites and are becoming more and more in demand,” said Deputy Chairman of the Moscow City Election Commission Dmitry Reut.
According to him, thanks to modern electoral legislation, a number of resolutions of the Central Election Commission of Russia and decisions of the Moscow City Election Commission, every Muscovite will be able to vote electronically or with a paper ballot.
“We see that every year the number of voters choosing the paper voting format is decreasing. So, if in 2019, during the last elections to the Moscow State Duma, about 10 thousand people took part in the DEG — 9.95% of the total number of voters, “Last year, in the Moscow mayoral elections, more than 80% of voters or 2.7 million Muscovites voted electronically. However, we are not abandoning this method of voting, but we are making it an application, thereby saving money on its organization,” Reut noted.
He noted that any voter in the city will be able to apply to vote using a paper ballot. This can be done using a special service that will open on mos.ru, as well as at the territorial election commission. Acceptance of applications on mos.ru begins 45 days, and in TECs — 30 days before the elections. Submission of applications ends three days before the start of the elections.
«In addition, we have provided the opportunity for those voters who, for good reasons, will not be able to submit an application in advance. For example, if a person has just changed his passport, was in the hospital or was on duty somewhere without access to the Internet. In this case, he can directly contact the PEC chairman on voting days, who, within the framework of his powers, will be able to resolve this issue,” Reut said.
He also noted that traditionally, pre-registration is not required to vote in DEGs or using terminals.
Elections in Moscow will be held from September 6 to 8, 2024. Muscovites will have to elect deputies to the Moscow City Duma, and residents of the Troitsky and Novomoskovsky districts will also vote for municipal deputies.