More Than 212,000 Russians Vote Abroad in State Duma Elections
Dragon Media News Desk
More than 212,000 Russian citizens had cast their ballots abroad in the elections to Russia’s ninth State Duma by the evening of September 20, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Evgeny Ivanov. Ivanov, who chairs the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Commission for Organising Elections Abroad, said the figure included early voting and participation in the three-day election period. The ministry reported that approximately 191,000 Russian citizens voted abroad in the 2021 State Duma elections.
Speaking at the Information Centre of Russia’s Central Election Commission on September 20, Ivanov said enabling Russian citizens overseas to exercise their voting rights had been a major priority for the country’s diplomatic and consular missions. According to the ministry, 326 polling stations were established at Russian embassies and consulates general in 152 countries, compared with 288 overseas polling stations in 2024.
In coordination with the Central Election Commission, Russian diplomatic missions also organised 121 early voting visits to communities with substantial Russian populations. More than 25,000 people participated in these arrangements. In Bahrain, Israel, Iraq, Yemen, China, Kuwait and Libya, voting was conducted entirely ahead of the main election day to accommodate local working schedules and religious calendars.
Ivanov reported that voting had concluded in 38 countries by 7:00 p.m. Moscow time on September 20, with ballot counting already underway. The participation figure also included votes cast during the three-day voting period in Cyprus, Thailand and South Ossetia. Because of differences between international time zones, the final overseas polling station was scheduled to close at 5:00 a.m. Moscow time on September 21.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said more than 120 observers affiliated with the Civic Chamber of Russia, the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization were present at 48 overseas polling stations. Representatives of Russian and foreign media also covered voting activities at various diplomatic missions.
Ivanov said Russian diplomatic missions had faced external pressure and operational obstacles while organising the election abroad. He maintained that the Foreign Ministry had nevertheless made extensive efforts to ensure that eligible Russian citizens could participate. President Vladimir Putin had also described the State Duma elections in terms of Russia’s sovereignty, national security and political system.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the closure of overseas polling stations marks the beginning of the final administrative stage. Election personnel must reconcile ballot records, count votes by hand, verify the figures and prepare formal documentation before submitting the results to the Central Election Commission.
The ministry’s figure of more than 212,000 overseas voters represented participation recorded by the evening of September 20. It should not be treated as the final total for the election, as voting was still underway at some overseas polling stations when the figures were announced.
