Voting opens in Russia poll that could keep Putin in power to 2036
● Amendments to constitution already approved by parliament
Polls opened in Russia yesterday for a week-long vote on constitutional changes that would allow president Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036.
The vote on a slew of constitutional amendments, proposed by Mr Putin in January, was initially scheduled for 22 April, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It was later rescheduled for 1 July, with polling stations opening a week earlier and staying open for seven days to prevent crowds gathering on the main voting day.
The proposed amendments include a change in the Russian constitution that would allow Mr Putin, 67, who has ruled Russia for more than two decades as prime minister and president, to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024.
Other proposed changes talk about improving social benefits, defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman, and redistributing executive powers within the government, further strengthening the presidency.
The amendments have been approved by both houses of parliament and the country’s Constitutional Court, and signed into law by Mr Putin.
He insisted they be put to voters even though it was not legally required, a move many see as an effort to put a veneer of democracy on the controversial changes. But holding the plebiscite in the middle of a pandemic has elicited public health concerns.
Russia is still reporting more than 7,000 new confirmed virus cases a day and has the world’s third-highest caseload with 613,000 confirmed in all. The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed safety concerns, saying Russia was able to slow its outbreak and assuring people the additional voting days, outdoor polling stations and other measures protect voters.
Critics said they feared the new procedures would hinder independent monitoring and create opportunities for manipulation and fraud.
After polls opened yesterday, opposition politician Alexei Navalny retweeted a video of what appeared to be a polling station set up inside the trunk of a car in the far eastern city of Vladivostok. His team also posted photos of makeshift polling stations in tents and on street benches.
In a tweet featuring a video of a tent with two poll workwould ers in it and a small plastic ballot box, Mr Navalny said sarcastically: “As you see, control is tight, rigging is impossible. Your vote may be of critical importance!”
Some media reports pointed out that in Moscow, where online voting is allowed, people who registered to vote that way were also able to vote at polling stations.
Pavel Lobkov, a journalist with TV channel Dozhd, said he was able to cast a ballot both in person and online. Election authorities said they invalidate all the votes in the ballot box where Mr Lobkov put his ballot.
Central Election Commission chairwoman Ella Pamfilova rejected the criticism of voting procedures.
“No-one is voting on benches or trunks of cars, no-one is voting in tents,” she said, calling the reported incidents of double voting a provocation.
Yesterday, Mr Putin said that the most important task was ensuring “the results of the nationwide vote are absolutely veracious, legitimate”.
He said voters should not be coerced and turnout shouldn’t be artificially inflated “so that afterwards, no-one can cast doubt on the position that the people will express”.
Although Mr Putin has not publicly said he would run again in 2024 when his existing term ends, he has said it is vital he has the option.
“Otherwise I know that in two years, instead of working normally at all levels of the state, all eyes will be on the search for potential successors,” he said earlier this week.