Russian citizens in Northern Ireland are preparing to cast early votes for their president.
(Baonghean) - In an interview with the Russian news agency TASS on March 10, Chairman of the Election Commission Ivan Volodin stated that the 2018 Russian presidential election has many new features. One of them is that, for the first time, Russian citizens in Northern Ireland (UK) have begun voting early.
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| The 2018 Russian presidential election will officially take place on March 18th. Photo: TASS |
According to Russian election law, Russian citizens living abroad are also allowed to vote early, but the deadline is no earlier than 15 days before the official election day.
The chairman of the electoral commission said that more than 50 Russian citizens in Northern Ireland had come to vote early. This is the first time a Russian presidential election has been held in this political and administrative region of the United Kingdom.
According to plan, early voting in Northern Ireland was scheduled for the first week of March, but it was postponed due to weather conditions, with people suffering from unusually heavy snowfall. On the official election day, March 18th, in the United Kingdom, voters will...
Polling stations will be set up at the Russian Embassy in London (UK) and the Russian Consulate General in Edinburgh (Scotland).
According to data from the Foundation for Social Opinion (FOM) and the Russian Public Opinion Survey (VSIOM), incumbent President Putin consistently enjoys the highest and most stable approval rating at around 70%. Notably, Putin's approval rating is significantly higher than that of his closest rivals, such as Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia – who receives around 6% support – and Pavel Grudinin of the Communist Party of Russia, who receives around 7%.
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| Putin speaks to supporters as a candidate in the 2018 Russian presidential election. Photo: Getty. |
Ahead of the elections, Russian presidential candidates receive free campaign advertising on five federal television channels: Rossyia 1, Rossyia 24, Channel 1, TV Centre, and Russian Social Television (OTR), as well as three radio stations: Radio Rossyia, Mayak, and Vesti FM.
In total, 60 hours of television and 36 hours of radio will be allocated to candidates' campaigns. By regulation, one-third of this time will be dedicated to the political parties that put forward candidates, and the remaining two-thirds will be divided equally: half for candidate campaign videos and the other half for debates.
With a large number of candidates participating, this Russian presidential election is considered lively. Although there are no factors preventing incumbent President Putin from being re-elected for another term, the slogans and promises of the candidates partly reflect the pressing issues that Russian society is concerned about.
