Putin wins election with 87.28% after 100% of ballots processed: CEC

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 Mar 2024 13:17

This comes as the official meeting of the CEC on the election results is due to be held on Thursday, with precinct commissions across the country having almost finished their work.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking on a visit to his campaign headquarters after a presidential election in Moscow, early Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP)

Vladimir Putin won the presidential election in Russia with 87.28% of the votes, after processing 100% of ballots, the latest data from the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) showed on Monday.

The chairwoman of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova confirmed that voter turnout in Russia's most recent elections was a record in the history of modern Russia with over 87.1 million Russians having voted - approximately 77.44% of voters.

"There has never been such a turnout in the history of modern Russia," Pamfilova stated.

Pamfilova slammed the Western-fabricated myth that elections in the Russian Federation are "not free", confirming that Russia is, adding that "these elections are unprecedented in the intensity of external aggressive influence."

"We proved to ourselves that we are an independent nation ... and in the face of the West, we showed that we are united. We are proud of this," she stated.

She relayed that 99.74% of the ballots have already been processed and entered into the State automated system "Vybory".

This comes as the official meeting of the CEC on the election results is due to be held on Thursday, with precinct commissions across the country having almost finished their work.

Pamfilova noted that the matter that differentiates this election from its predecessors is the DDoS attacks, as they were 150 times more than usual, with cyberattack attempts surpassing 12 million.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova asserted that as many as 372,779 people cast a ballot in Russia's presidential election abroad as of 8:30 Moscow time (05:30 GMT).

"To date, as of 8:30 am Moscow time, according to preliminary data, 372,779 people took part in the election, but this is not final data," Zakharova told the Channel One broadcaster.

Other candidates were Nikolay Kharitonov, the chairman of the Lower House's Far East and Arctic Development Committee, who received 4.31% of votes, Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the Lower House's International Affairs Committee, with 3.20%, and Lower House Deputy Chairman Vladislav Davankov who secured 3.85%, the data showed.

The voting has spanned three days from March 15 until March 17. It marked the first Russian presidential election since the 2020 constitutional reform. The reform had imposed a limit of two terms for any president. This also nullified Putin's former terms, enabling him to run again.

Putin's victory can be attributed to several reasons, the first being what the Russians perceive as a defense of Russia's national security through the war in Ukraine. A second contributing factor is what can be described as Russia's economic resilience in the face of US sanctions.