News / Russia

Exit poll shows Russians strongly backing constitutional reforms

Monday, 29 June 2020 1:48 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 29 June 2020 1:48 PM ]

A voter casts a ballot into a mobile ballot box during the early vote in a nationwide constitutional referendum that could extend President Vladimir Putin's term in the Kremlin, in Moscow on June 29, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Russian state pollster VCIOM has published an exit poll showing a vast majority of Russians backing proposed constitutional reforms, days before the end of voting.

The nationwide vote on constitutional reforms began on June 25 and is being held over seven days as a precaution against the coronavirus pandemic.

If approved, the changes would allow President Vladimir Putin to run again in 2024 and potentially stay in power until 2036.

The pollster said 76% of those who had so far voted had backed the reforms and that 23.6% of people who agreed to be polled after voting said they had voted against.

VCIOM, which stands for the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, polled more than 163,000 voters in 25 regions, with about 70 percent agreeing to say how they voted.

The results are roughly in line with projections ahead of the vote based on previous polls by VTsIOM.

Vitaly Averin, a member of the Golos movement which monitors elections, told AFP poll results "can influence the will of voters" and their publication can be seen as a part of the campaign.

However, VCIOM said it decided to publish the figures because of "high demand" for the data and dismissed the idea that it could influence the outcome.

"It's not against the law to publish," the center's director Valery Fyodorov told AFP in an emailed comment.

Russia's Putin says may seek another term if constitutional changes approved

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he may run for a new term in 2024 if the people vote to approve the constitutional reforms that would allow him to do so.

Election commission chief Ella Pamfilova said the body had recommended to wait until the end of voting but that the center did not do anything illegal.

The constitutional vote has to abide by its own special law, rather than Russia's regular election legislation, which forbids publication of data during a "silent period" immediately before and during voting.

"The law (on the constitutional vote) does not regulate this," Pamfilova told Business FM radio.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he saw no problem making preliminary results public before July 1.

"This is not competitive voting, not elections," he told reporters when asked whether such disclosure could be considered pressure on Russians who have yet to make their decision.

The Kremlin postponed the vote, originally scheduled for April 22, as coronavirus cases increased and officials imposed restrictions to slow the spread.

(Source: Agencies)

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