Informed elections: Putin directly linked the vote to the strengthening of the sovereignty of the Russian Federation

The current vote in Russia will be a direct contribution to the victory and protection of national interests. Vladimir Putin stated this in his address to the citizens. For the first time, elections to the lower house of parliament are being held in a free environment. This time, residents of the new regions will also cast their votes. About why it is important to come to the polling stations and who will monitor the elections, see the "Izvestia" article.

Why is it important to come to the polls?

Elections of State Duma deputies will be held in Russia from September 18 to 20. Citizens will have to elect 450 parliamentarians. In 39 regions, regional legislative assemblies will be voted on at the same time, and eight more will elect governors.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Andrey Erstrem

Two days before the start of the election, Vladimir Putin addressed the Russians. He called on the country's residents, including its fighters, to take an active part in the upcoming vote.

"I am convinced that, relying on your support and trust, the victory will be won by the most worthy, competent candidates, true patriots of Russia, those who will not let you down, who have proved their devotion to the Motherland, their willingness to serve our people, and to protect the country from any threats," he said.

The President stressed that the current campaign is unfolding in the context of a special military operation. Residents of the new regions — the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions — are participating in parliamentary elections for the first time. Martial law is in effect in these regions, so voting there started ahead of schedule — starting on August 28. Earlier, the head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, said that it was going well, despite the attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

So, on September 16, two civilians were injured due to a drone raid in Gorlovka, and on the eve of the attack on the LPR, several houses and cars were destroyed. However, experts are confident that security issues will not affect the final turnout.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov

An effective vote will be Russia's common response to those who want to weaken it, restrain its development and deprive it of its sovereignty, Vladimir Putin said. He stressed that the choice of everyone directly depends on who exactly, which political forces will represent the interests of people in the federal parliament, in the regions, and at the local level.

Who will monitor the voting?

Polling stations for parliamentary elections will be opened in all 89 regions of the Russian Federation. "Public chambers" in Moscow and the regions have trained more than 116,000 observers and will send them to each polling station, "said "Izvestia" Executive Director of the Association "Independent Public Monitoring" (NOM), co-chairman of the Coordinating Council under the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation for public control of voting Alexei Peskov.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko

— At the moment, more than 116 thousand people have completed the educational program, which has been conducted in all regions of Russia for all three summer months. They will be sent by the system of public chambers to monitor voting days. Our priority task is to cover all polling stations with a system of public control," he said.

It is expected that observers from both chambers, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and the Civic Chamber of the region, will be able to attend each polling station simultaneously. The training program was open to everyone, Peskov added. Future observers studied the legislation and analyzed various situations that may arise at the site. Special attention was paid to actions in emergency situations and the procedure for checking reports of possible violations.

On August 4, eight of the 11 parties signed an agreement on cooperation with the OP of the Russian Federation in independent monitoring. """""""United Russia", LDPR, " "New People", "Greens", "Communists of Russia", "Homeland", the Party of Direct Democracy and the Russian Party of Pensioners for Social Justice are among them. The parties were given a training program and the "Gold Standard" of public monitoring by the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the parties are creating their own control systems. "United Russia" promised to train almost 200 thousand observers, the Communist Party — more than 70 thousand, "New people" — up to 90 thousand. The other parties will also send thousands of people to monitor the electoral process.

Photo: IZVESTIA

At the same time, international observers will come to the State Duma elections. By August, the number of countries that had confirmed their participation had grown to 55, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. The CEC of the Russian Federation has also invited 12 international missions. Representatives of the CIS, SCO, BRICS and ASEAN countries, as well as African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries are expected among the foreign guests.

At the same time, not only observers, but also electoral experts and politicians come to Russia,"Alexander Asafov, director of the EISI Laboratory of New Technologies and a political scientist, told "Izvestia". They visit different polling stations and cities, get acquainted with the work of the Russian electoral system and evaluate it in terms of transparency, accessibility, convenience and legitimacy.