Early voting in Russia's presidential elections has started today in distant areas of the Sakhalin and Magadan regions.
"Today a helicopter has left for Cape Crillon, the lighthouse caretakers will be able to vote there," the deputy chairman of the election commission of the Sakhalin region Pavel Sivakonov said.
Early voting has started today in the Magadan region. "Members of the Electoral Commission of the Magadan Region have left fot the Severo-Evenky District by helicopter today, where reindeer brigades and several mining enterprises will be able to vote," the chairman of the election commission of the Magadan Region Nikolai Zhukov said.
In the Khabarovsk Territory, members of the electoral committee plan to leave for the remote villages of the Polina Osipenko district on February 28. Then the helicopter will leave for the Tuguro-Chumikansky and Ayano-May districts, the secretary of the election commission of the Khabarovsk Territory Oyars Mashkov said.
Early voting is already taking place in Kamchatka, Chukotka, Yakutia and the Amur Region.
Foreign observers have also started their work in the Far East. Representatives of the international observation mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Denise Wappel (Austria) and Joseph Worrall (UK). They are monitoring the preparation of elections in Primorsky Krai. Representatives of the mission will leave the province on March 5, the regional election commission said.
The President of the Minchenko Consulting Communication Group, Yevgeny Minchenko, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that, according to sociological data, the number of undecided voters is relatively small.
"In general, the struggle is underway for 5-7%, which is not important, I think that the dynamics will be in the last days before the elections. In many respects it will depend on how candidates and proxies act during the debate. But it is clear that it will not have any serious impact on the election process," the expert said.
According to him, the current situation can only be changed by extraordinary events. At the same time, the debate that have started may have little effect on the electorate.
"The struggle is underway for a maximum of 10% of the electorate. It's a question of who will take the second and third place," the expert concluded.
The director of the Center for Political Information, Alexei Mukhin, in turn, noted that the presidential candidates still have three weeks to work with the electoral groups, and most likely, many of them will take advantage of this opportunity.
According to him, both the debate of the candidates and the election campaign operate in a standard way. "Russia is a huge country, not all polling stations can be easily accessed. The execution of civil debt must be technically provided by the authorities, which, in fact, is done," Alexei Mukhin concluded.
