RTThu, 02 Jul 2020 16:47 UTC
© Reuters/Evgenia NovozheninaMembers of a local electoral commission count ballots at a polling station following a seven-day nationwide vote on constitutional reforms, in Moscow, Russia, July 1, 2020.
The majority of Russians have endorsed changes to the constitution in a week-long vote. Some 78 percent approved the amendments, while 21 percent were opposed, the Electoral Commission announced after all ballots were counted.
Voters were able to exercise their franchise either for or against the 206 proposed amendments from June 25 until July 1. The vote, initially set for April, was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the period of voting itself was extended to allow for social distancing. Residents of Moscow, the city hit hardest by the coronavirus, and those in Nizhny Novgorod could also vote online.
However, the final day of voting - Wednesday - still saw millions going to the polls all over the country to cast their ballots in person. Turnout has been estimated at some 65 percent.
The proposed amendments, the bulk of which are dedicated to social issues, have grabbed headlines in the West because they also redefine eligibility for the presidency and could theoretically provide President Vladimir Putin with a chance to stay in power for two more terms.
Other changes include a state guarantee of a minimum wage above subsistence level; a mandatory adjustment of pensions according to inflation; the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman; a ban on top government officials holding foreign passports; and restricting future presidents to serving only two terms. There was some controversy about the new document also including a mention of God in relation to the country's heritage.The final day of voting largely proceeded incident-free, although several hundred people in Moscow and several dozen in St. Petersburg took to the streets to voice their opposition to the overhaul. The rally in the Russian capital was peaceful, and saw police officers handing out protective masks to the predominantly young activists.
Overall, there were 839 reports of violations during the whole week of voting, including 126 recorded on Wednesday. While investigations have been launched, and already led to results at one of the polling stations in Moscow being annulled, officials say that the reported irregularities are largely minor, and will not affect the final tally.
Comment: Turnout for the vote was 65%, or
nearly two-thirds of those eligible. Moscow declared the day a national holiday to make it easier for its citizens to cast their ballot in person.
Historians
declared the vote as the first truly Russian Constitution to be adopted by the people:
The Atlanticist fifth-column was not
slacking off though, with perennial malcontent Alexei Navalny leading off:
Moscow protest leader Alexei Navalny rejected the legitimacy of the plebiscite and asked his followers not to engage in "despair and anxiety," but instead to focus on "mobilization." The populist activist, who has attempted to appeal to both nationalists and liberals, is prominent in the Western media's coverage of Russia.
"I woke up and found out78 percent voted for zeroing Putin's terms. That is, even more than in the presidential election in 2018 (76 percent). Russia has broken the record of fake votes. The announced result doesn't even have anything to do with people's opinions," he wrote on Telegram.
The election-monitoring organization Golos agreed with Navalny's assessment of the nature of the vote, believing the turnout and results to be rigged. Golos is registered in Russia as a 'foreign agent' and once received funding from the United States Agency for International Development.
"This is not a vote, not a referendum, but a show," said Lyubov Sobol, an opposition politician and lawyer for Navalny's Anti-Corruption Fund. Sobol thinks the vote was manufactured, allowing Putin to declare that serving further terms is the will of the people.
The constitutional amendments were also opposed by the country's biggest opposition parliamentary party, the Communists. In the weeks before the vote, the party's leader, Gennady Zyuganov, called on Russians to vote against it, citing a rushed process. On polling day, he tweeted, "Amendment voting is not a referendum. This is an all-Russian survey, which, in addition, is going ahead in accordance with incomprehensible rules. In such a situation, you cannot allow your voice to be stolen."
Another 'systematic' opposition politician, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, supported the amendments, however. Last week, when the political veteran voted, he said it was "imperative to support" the "major overhaul of the constitution."
Comment: Turnout for the vote was 65%, or nearly two-thirds of those eligible. Moscow declared the day a national holiday to make it easier for its citizens to cast their ballot in person.
Historians declared the vote as the first truly Russian Constitution to be adopted by the people:
The Atlanticist fifth-column was not slacking off though, with perennial malcontent Alexei Navalny leading off: