Putin votes while Russians begin casting their ballots in 3-day legislative election

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday voted in his country’s latest legislative election, joining tens of millions of Russians casting their ballots to elect members of the 450-seat lower house of parliament.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin voted online in the legislative election, which will determine the members of the ninth convocation of Russia's State Duma.

In a video address on Thursday, Putin said participation in the vote, the first since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, will show unity and contribute to Russia’s “victory” in the ongoing conflict.

Putin urged Russians to vote, calling this their “collective response to those who seek to weaken Russia, hold back its development, and deprive us of our sovereignty and the right to determine our own destiny.”

Citing regional election commissions, state news agency Tass reported that Russians began casting their ballots in the country’s easternmost Chukotka and Kamchatka regions at 8 am local time on Friday (2000GMT on Thursday).

The elections are being held as part of Russia’s Single Voting Day, with voters in eight regions choosing governors or heads of regions, while parliamentary elections are taking place in 39 regions.

Local council elections are also scheduled in the administrative centers of 10 regions.

111 million people eligible to vote

According to Russia's Central Election Commission, about 111 million people, including approximately 1.8 million registered voters abroad, are eligible to vote in the parliamentary polls.

Voting is taking place at polling stations, as well as through Russia’s remote electronic voting system, and will conclude at 8 pm local time on Sunday in the country’s numerous time zones.

Russia stretches across 11 different time zones, so in different regions the local time will vary from GMT+2 to GMT+12.

Eleven political parties are competing in the State Duma election, including the country's ruling United Russia party and the four parties currently represented in the Duma — the Communist Party, Liberal Democratic Party, A Just Russia—For Truth, and New People.

Five parties without parliamentary representation are also taking part, including the liberal Yabloko party, which was excluded from the ballot for the State Duma election under the party list system. However, candidates nominated by the party in single-member constituencies are taking part in the vote.

The Duma has 450 seats. Half of them are filled through party lists, while the remaining 225 are contested in single-member constituencies.