Make an election: how is early voting going in new regions?

The DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions are successfully coping with early voting in the State Duma, despite regular shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, told Izvestia. In 12 regions with martial law or an average response level, elections started on August 28. The CEC has provided special conditions for these regions, including the urgent evacuation of voters and documentation from polling stations and possible voting in the adjacent territories. Experts admit attempts to disrupt the elections, but they believe that this should not affect the turnout.

Features of voting in the regions

The State Duma elections will be held from September 18 to 20. Russians will have to identify 450 parliamentarians. At the same time, in several regions where martial law or an average response level is in effect, voting started ahead of schedule — starting on August 28.

Martial law is in effect in the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, which are participating in the State Duma elections for the first time. The average response level was established in eight regions of the Russian Federation: Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov regions, Krasnodar Territory, Crimea and Sevastopol. At the same time, the CEC resolution on the specifics of elections under martial law applies to all 12 regions.

At the moment, early voting in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions is going well, despite regular shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, told Izvestia.

"The election commissions are successfully coping with the conduct of this vote, there are no problems with the organization of the electoral process, despite the ongoing enemy attacks on civilian infrastructure," she said.

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According to data from September 2, about 10,000 Russians from 12 regions have already cast their votes in the early elections. Such voting takes place strictly according to the CEC resolution on the specifics of elections under martial law, the chairman of the Central Election Commission clarified. According to it, the election commissions in the regions can independently determine hard-to-reach or remote areas in order to hold early voting there.

In particular, the regional election commission of the Kursk region allowed early voting to be held at home and in the adjacent territories. The decree also introduces separate rules for taking photos and videos at polling stations. The dates, times, and addresses where the early voting is taking place will not be published in the media or on the Internet. In case of security threats, the process is allowed to be urgently stopped, and all documentation and voters should be evacuated immediately. At the same time, remote voting (DEG) is not carried out in the territories that became part of the Russian Federation in 2022.

Due to regular UAV attacks and shelling, the security situation in these regions remains really tense. In recent days, drones have destroyed a hypermarket in Mariupol and hit a market in Energodar, resulting in human casualties. On September 7, 13 people were injured after a drone attack in the DPR.

In this regard, the CEC has provided additional security measures in advance. Backup facilities and power supplies were prepared in four regions, and training sessions were conducted jointly with the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. One of the key principles is to disperse the voters as much as possible and prevent their mass accumulation in one polling station.

APU attacks will not affect turnout

Roman Molozhon, Deputy General Director of the Polylog Group for political Projects, believes that attempts to disrupt the electoral process, including attacks on the electoral infrastructure, should be expected during the main voting period. At the same time, in his opinion, this will not significantly affect the final turnout, since voting was initially organized taking into account security threats, and a long period of early voting allows minimizing risks to the life and health of residents.

The total number of voters in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions at the beginning of the year was almost 3.6 million, with about 1.6 million of them in the DPR. Residents of Donbass are traditionally the most active voters in elections: For example, in the 2023 elections of deputies of the People's Council, the turnout there exceeded 94%.

For residents of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, the current campaign will be the first vote for deputies of the State Duma. Up to 18 deputies will be able to represent them in the lower house of parliament. Seven will be elected in single—mandate districts: three in the DPR, two in the LPR, and one each in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. According to the lists, up to 11 people will be able to apply for mandates.

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Thus, the outcome of the parties will be influenced not only by the federal agenda, but also by the extent to which candidates will be able to show their connection with specific territories and their problems. The campaign may be more targeted here: meetings with residents, work with specific appeals, and candidates' ability to propose solutions for housing, infrastructure, employment, and territorial development will be important.

Given the regular UAV attacks, a security request will be important. Another problem is the restoration of territories. First of all, it concerns the condition of housing, roads and utility networks, the work of schools and hospitals, the revitalization of a number of enterprises and the creation of jobs. According to the developed master plans, 9.8 million square meters are planned to be built in the new regions by 2045. housing, 143 kindergartens and 24 schools. The implementation of the projects is expected to increase the population of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions by 113.8 thousand people.