At Stake in this Election:

• The Presidency of the Russian Federation

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: President Vladimir PUTIN (since 7 May 2012)
• Head of Government: Premier Mikhail MISHUSTIN (since 16 January 2020)
• Assembly: bicameral Federal Assembly (Федера́льное Собра́ние) with a 170-seat Federation Council (Сове́т Федера́ции) and a 450-seat State Duma (Госуда́рственная ду́ма)

Electoral System:

• The President is directly elected by absolute majority vote in up to two rounds. The President may serve up to two 6-year terms.
• The Premier is appointed by the President and confirmed by the State Duma.
• In the Federation Council, 170 members are appointed by the executive and the legislative officials of each federal unit of the Russian Federation. Members serve 4-year terms.
• In the State Duma, 225 members are elected by plurality vote from single-seat constituencies, and an additional 225 members are elected by proportional representation vote from a single federation-wide constituency. All members serve 5-year terms.

Last Election:

In the 2018 presidential election, incumbent Vladimir PUTIN (United Russia) won with 76.69% of the vote. Voter turnout was 67.5%.

Information for Voters:

Права участников избирательного процесса / Rights of Voters in the Electoral Process (in Russian)

New/Unique in this Election:

This will be the first Russian presidential election to be held over multiple days (15-17 March 2024) and to include online voting. Electoral law changes passed in 2022 added stricter presidential eligibility requirements, prohibiting the candidacy of those who have lived outside of Russia in the past 25 years or who have ever held foreign citizenship or residency permits.  The changes also instituted an absolute two-term limit (as opposed to the prior two-term consecutive limit), though this does not apply to the incumbent or other past presidents. In November 2023, the presidential election law was amended to allow voting to take place in areas under martial law (such as annexed regions of Ukraine), prohibit the publication of campaign content on restricted websites, and restrict the circumstances in which journalists can report from certain polling stations and election commission sessions.

Key Deadlines:

• Candidate filing deadline:  31 January 2024
• Voter registration deadline: Russia uses a passive, residence-based voter registration system for in-country voters.
  • To vote online, voters must apply by 11 March 2024.

Main Candidates in this Election:

• Vladimir PUTIN
  • Independent
  • Incumbent
• Vladislav DAVANKOV
  • New People
• Leonid Slutsky
  • LDPR
• Nikolai Kharitonov
  • Communist Party

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 144,236,930 (2022 est.)
• Registered Voters: 114,212,734 (2024)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 77,249,740 (2022 est.)
• CEDAW Status: Signed 17 July 1980, Ratified 23 January 1981
• Gender Quota: No
• Female Candidates in this election: No
• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 74 out of 450 (16.4%) in the State Duma and 32 out of 169 (18.9%) in the Federation Council
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.822, Very High, Rank 52 (2021)
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Not available

Disability Data:

• CRPD Status: Signed 24 September 2008, Ratified 25 September 2012
• Projected population with a disability: 23,077,909 (2022 est.)

IFES Resources:

• Does IFES have a presence in Russia: No
• Election Access: Yes
• Election Judgements: Yes, 3 judgments and 28 resources