Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
A majority of Russians approved amendments to Russia’s constitution in a weeklong vote ending Wednesday, allowing president Vladimir Putin to hold power until 2036.
With most of the nation’s polls closed and 15% of precincts counted, 71% voted for the changes, according to election officials.
For the first time in Russia, polls were kept open for a week to bolster turnout without increasing crowds casting ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Russia’s easternmost Chukchi Peninsula, nine hours ahead of Moscow, officials quickly announced full preliminary results showing 80% of voters supported the amendments, and in other parts of the Far East, they said over 70% of voters backed the changes.
Kremlin critics and independent election observers questioned official figures.
Putin voted at a Moscow polling station, dutifully showing his passport to the election worker. His face was uncovered, unlike most of the other voters who were offered free masks at the entrance
The vote completes a convoluted saga that began in January when Putin first proposed the constitutional changes. He offered to broaden the powers of parliament and redistribute authority among the branches of government, stoking speculation he might seek to become a parliamentary speaker or chairman of the State Council when his presidential term ends in 2024.
