Putin Officially Declared Russia’s President-elect

Vladimir Putin has won a landslide victory in the presidential election, Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has officially announced. The inauguration of the president-elect is scheduled for May 7.

The CEC head, Ella Pamfilova, revealed on Thursday that more than 76.2 million Russian voters cast ballots for Putin, giving him 87.28% of the vote.

Meanwhile, Putin’s opponents in the race, Communist Party candidate Nikolay Kharitonov, Vladislav Davankov of the New People party, and Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democrats, received 4.31%, 3.85%, and 3.2%, respectively, Pamfilova added.

Russia has a total of 112 million eligible voters out of a total population of 146.2 million people, according to official data. The last figure, however, does not take into account the four former Ukrainian territories that joined Russia in the fall of 2022.

The presidential election in Russia, held between March 15 and 17, was marked by record-high voter turnout, surpassing 77%.

A KGB agent during the Soviet era, Putin was first elected president in 2000, remaining in office for two four-year terms until 2008. Between 2008 and 2012, he served as prime minister under President Dmitry Medvedev.

During Medvedev’s tenure, the Russian constitution was amended to extend the presidential term from four to six years. Putin returned to the presidency in 2012 and was reelected in 2018. A constitutional reform in 2020 established a two-term limit but “nullified” Putin’s previous terms, enabling him to run once more for the highest office.

The inauguration of the president-elect is scheduled for early May, to coincide with the resignation of the Russian government. The constitutional deadline for forming a new government is one month.

On Thursday, Putin thanked all those who went to the polling stations regardless of what candidate they voted for, adding that the election showed that Russia is “one big and tightly-knit family.”

He also noted that the results “demand even more commitment and efficiency” from him and his team, promising to do his best to meet public expectations.