China News Agency, Moscow, July 2 (Reporter Wang Xiujun) The all-Russia vote on the amendment of the Russian Constitution ended on the evening of July 1. The Russian Central Election Commission released news late that night that 90.04% of the votes had been counted, of which 77.93% of the votes supported the amendment and 21.27% of the votes opposed.
The chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission Pamfilova said on the 1st that preliminary data showed that the turnout in Russia was 65%, and the final data may be slightly higher than the current level.
Amending the constitution is an important political event in Russia this year. The all-Russian vote on amending the constitution is the last step in amending the constitution. Previously, the draft constitution amendment was successively approved by the State Duma (lower house of parliament), the Federal Council (upper house of parliament) and the local council and confirmed by the Constitutional Court. According to the original plan, the all-Russia vote should be held on April 22, but because of the new coronavirus epidemic, the vote was changed to be held from June 25 to July 1.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to amend the Constitution in his State of the Union address issued on January 15. The constitutional amendments include strengthening the power of the State Duma in the formation of government cabinets; giving the Federal Council the power to appoint the president and judges of the Supreme Court; prohibiting senior officials from holding dual nationality or long-term foreign residence permits; clarifying the status of the Federal Council of State, etc. Since then, when the State Duma conducted the second reading of the draft constitution amendment, it added content that allows the current Russian president to participate in the 2024 presidential election again. (Finish)