Russians line up to cast ballots, officials vote in parliamentary election that lasts till Sunday

Record ID: 1637388

  • Title: Russians line up to cast ballots, officials vote in parliamentary election that lasts till Sunday
  • Date: 17th September 2021
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 17, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VOTING STATION INTERNAL VIEWS WOMEN VOTING MAN PUTTING BALLOT IN BOX SIGN READING "Election -2021" VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PUTTING BALLONS IN BOXES LIST OF CANDIDATES ON WALL MAN VOTING VOTING STATION EXTERNAL VIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW RESIDENT, TRANSLATOR, VICTORIA, SAYING: "I wish everything to get better, I hope that every Russian citizen votes and shows his position and would make the right choice to change our lives." PEOPLE IN STREETS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW RESIDENT, ACTOR, VALENTIN, SAYING: "Clearly, I would try to use a 'smart voting' system. I think that it's not exactly all right, because someone tells us how to vote, and we must do it. I don't think that it's not that different from the mass groups coming to vote for United Russia. But I look on this like at the experiment". PEOPLE IN STREETS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW RESIDENT, ACTOR, VALENTIN, SAYING: "I think they will be falsification of the results, not like in Belarus but significantly to reach a needed percent to win." MOSCOW CITY VIEWS
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2021 14:52
  • Keywords: Russia election parliament state duma
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Europe,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA006EV3XL53
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Russian citizens, officials voted on Friday (September 17) in a parliamentary election that lasts till Sunday (September 19).
    The election is a test of Putin's grip on power across 11 time zones from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea at a time when the Kremlin is facing malaise at home over faltering living standards and bad ties with the West.
    On the first day of the election President Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu, and Patriarch Kirill have cast their votes.
    Putin himself voted via an online system that is used in seven regions of Russia. Earlier this week Putin said he would have to spend "a few days" in self-isolation after dozens of people in his entourage fell ill with COVID-19.
    The first day of elections was characterized by huge lines of state employees on the voting stations who how media said was forced to vote exactly on that day.
    Allies of Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's fiercest domestic opponent, planned to use the mobile app to organize a tactical voting campaign to deal a blow to United Russia.
    Russia demanded this month that Apple and Google remove the app from their stores, saying a refusal to do so would be treated as meddling in its parliamentary election.
    The United Russia party is facing a rating slump but is expected to win the vote that follows the biggest crackdown on the Kremlin's domestic political opponents in years.
    (Production: Dmitry Turlyun, Elena Ostrovskaya, Dmitry Madorsky, Gennadiy Novik)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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