As of: March 7, 2024, 4:53 a.m
By: Momir Takac
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Press
Split
There is no doubt in Russia that Vladimir Putin will be confirmed as president.
Nevertheless, the Kremlin chief is worried.
Moscow – In mid-March, Vladimir Putin wants to be elected Russian president for the third time in a row.
A no-brainer, since opposition opponents were excluded in advance and there are no fair and transparent elections in the autocratic system anyway.
Nevertheless, the Kremlin chief is worried.
Vladimir Putin is concerned about voter turnout in the presidential election in Russia.
© IMAGO/Mikhail Tereshchenko
Vladimir Putin fears low voter turnout in presidential election
Opinion polls in Russia show Putin remains popular with the public, even as support for the Ukraine war is waning.
But there are no doubts about the outcome of the Russian election.
As the opposition Russian Internet newspaper based in Riga,
Meduza,
reports, in view of Putin's expected landslide victory, interest among the population in going to the polls is historically low.
The
Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
also writes that there is a “widespread feeling that the election has already been decided and that Russians have generally accepted that Putin has already won.”
The president's team is also aware of this.
Kremlin forces government loyalists to bring other people to polling stations
However, the Kremlin boss would like a voter turnout of between 70 and 80 percent in Russia in order to suggest “legitimacy and broad support from the population,” writes
ISW
.
The aim is to win the presidential election with the highest official margin to date.
To achieve this, the election team considered Putin's measures.
According to Meduza
, citing sources close to the Kremlin, Kremlin officials plan to “pressure government-dependent constituencies such as civil servants, employees of state-owned companies and employees of pro-government private companies.”
For example, members and supporters of the ruling United Russia party are supposed to encourage other people to vote.
Electronic voting is intended to monitor mobilization
We are talking about at least ten people, such as family members, friends and acquaintances, who should be brought to polling stations.
Public sector employees are supposed to pick up three people, and employees of large corporations are supposed to pick up two people.
According to
Meduza's
sources, public officials and business people must provide the names, phone numbers and email addresses of the people they want to vote several weeks before the actual election.
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Electronic voting, which has been possible in parts of the country since 2019, should also help.
Meduza
said electronic voting “makes it much easier to monitor how well public officials are achieving their goals.”
In regions where electronic voting is not yet possible, authorities apparently want to monitor mobilization efforts using QR codes.
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(mt)