70.81% voter turnout in Russia; elections proceeding smoothly
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More than 125,000 Russian citizens have voted in the presidential election in 111 countries as of 10 a.m. Moscow time (07:00 GMT) today.
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A family votes at a polling station located in a school during the presidential elections in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)
As of 15:45 Moscow time (06:45 GMT), the voter turnout, across Russia on the third day of voting has amounted to 70.81%, including remote electronic voting, the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) reported.
This comes as voting in Russia's presidential election is ongoing smoothly, in adherence to the country's law, the observer mission of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) informed Sputnik.
The head of the CIS observer mission, Ilhom Nematov, said, "The election is being organized calmly, without any deviations from Russian law."
Nematov added that all polling stations in Russia have been supplied with the fundamental technical means and information materials.
"We visited three sites in the Moscow Region yesterday, so we visited the Kaluga Region, the Ryazan Region, the Vladimir Region ... All of them are working in a structured manner, they have been properly prepared," he announced.
Nematov revealed that the CIS mission will release its final statements on March 18 based on observations in 28 regions of Russia.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Russia, Hadi Ahmad, also reported that the Russian presidential election process has been running smoothly today with no provocations like the ones witnessed yesterday.
Ahmad added that the 3,900 polling stations in Moscow are proceeding with their work normally, adding that the voter turnout across Russia reached 60% yesterday predicted an increase today, especially since it is a weekend day.
More than 90,000 cyber attacks have targeted the Russian election portal, our correspondent added.
70.81% of Russians have voted so far
The Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova stated today that the Russian presidential election should run cleanly and fairly to guarantee that no one has the slightest doubt about the process.
"Today is a very important, final day of voting. I would like to wish all our colleagues who are currently [working], all commissions open, that everything goes at the highest level — everything we have taught, everything we have talked about. The elections should be held as clean, honest and fair as possible, so that no one has the slightest doubt about the validity of how these elections are going," Pamfilova said in a briefing.
Over the past few days, the CEC recorded 12,600 dangerous actions against its website, as well as four DDoS attacks, which were all blocked, Pamfilova revealed, adding that the website is functioning normally without failures in operation.
Another Al Mayadeen correspondent in Moscow, Melhem Rayya, commented that the high voter turnout has several indications, one of which is that the Russian people support their country's leadership. Another two indications are that the Russian people support their country's operation in Ukraine and that they are well aware of the dangers threatening Russia's national security.
The final indication is absolute support for the steps taken by the Russian leadership toward supporting local products to combat the sanctions imposed by the West.
Over 125,000 Russian citizens have voted as of 10 am Moscow time
Over 125,000 Russian citizens have cast their ballots in the presidential election in 111 countries as of 10 am Moscow time (07:00 GMT) today, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated.
"As of 10:00 Moscow time on March 17, 2024: 125,428 people voted abroad at 230 polling stations in 111 countries," Zakharova revealed on Telegram.
She added that given the time difference, several sites will only open today, adding that "even this data is a response to all those who have tried to spread misinformation or distort the voting process."
