Russians grant Putin right to extend his rule until 2036 in landslide vote - initial results
Record ID:
1560205
Russians grant Putin right to extend his rule until 2036 in landslide vote - initial results
- Title: Russians grant Putin right to extend his rule until 2036 in landslide vote - initial results
- Date: 1st July 2020
- Summary: VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION WITH SIGN READING (Russian): "Polling station number 142"
- Embargoed: 15th July 2020 14:37
- Keywords: Russian Consitution Russian president Vladimir Putin vote
- Location: MOSCOW AND TVER, RUSSIA
- City: MOSCOW AND TVER, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA003CKZ9SNB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A HIGHLIGHTS WRAP OF MATERIAL THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN FILED. IT DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY FRESH MATERIAL.
Russians appeared to have paved the way for Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036 by voting overwhelmingly for a package of constitutional changes which will also boost pensions, initial results of a nationwide vote showed on Wednesday (July 1).
Partial results, announced five hours before polls closed, indicate the former KGB officer who has ruled Russia for more than two decades as president or prime minister will win the right to run for two more terms. That means he could remain president for 16 more years.
The Central Election Commission said just over 70% of votes counted across the world's largest country had supported changing the constitution. Almost 29% had voted no of the 2.68% of ballots counted. Fuller results are due at 1900 GMT.
If approved, the changes would allow Putin to run twice for president again after his current term expires in 2024.
The nationwide vote on constitutional reforms began on Thursday (June 25) and was held over seven days as a precaution against the coronavirus pandemic.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and Communist Party leader Gennady Zhyuganov both cast their vote on Wednesday.
The Communist Party, which has advised supporters to vote "no", has complained of irregularities.
Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia's Central Election Commission, said on Wednesday during a briefing that no serious violations in the voting process had occurred.
Polling officials visited patients at the Regional Clinical Hospital in the Russian city of Tver on Wednesday to accept their vote on the changes to the Russian Constitution.
Dressed in protective clothing and wearing face visors, the polling officials took a transparent ballot box directly to the bedside of patients in the hospital.
Russians have been encouraged to vote with prize draws offering flats and an ad campaign highlighting other constitutional amendments in the same reform bundle, such as the pensions protection and a de facto ban on same-sex marriages.
(Production: Paul Warren, Gabriela Boccaccio) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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