Russian voters will go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president for the country. The following are key facts and figures about the forthcoming presidential election.
-- There are around 108.94 million eligible voters in Russia according to the Central Elections Commission (CEC). Among them, 107.3 million voters live in Russia and the rest abroad.
-- A total of 96,277 polling stations will be set up in the upcoming election, including 364 abroad. Polling booths will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time.
-- Since Russia spans 11 time zones, the first polling station will open at 2000 GMT on March 1, with the last closing at 1800 GMT on March 2.
--Voting started about two weeks before the election date in some remote areas.
-- The turnout in the presidential polls is expected to surpass68.5 percent. The minimum turnout rule, under which people can express discontent or indifference by not voting, was abolished.
-- A presidential candidate must get more than 50 percent of the ballots to win the election. Failing that, the two front runners shall go through a second round to be held in three weeks.
-- A candidate has to either be nominated by a party in parliament, or collect the signatures of 2 million voters in order to run for the presidency.
-- Around 300 observers from international organizations, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, will monitor the vote.
However, Europe's main election watchdog, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), decided to boycott the election because of Moscow-imposed restrictions.
-- The results of exit polls will be announced soon after the last polling station closes.
-- The first partial election results start arriving in the CECas polling stations close, but they will not be made public until the whole voting ends.
Source: Xinhua
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