Russian presidential election: Historic turnout shows importance of President Putin’s record election – Newsflash

Russian President Putin was re-elected with a record result. Voter turnout was historically high. The Russians are more than content with Putin.

Peter Hanseler

The election result is historic in two respects: firstly, President Putin was re-elected with around 87% of the vote – a record result. The three other candidates did not get more than 4%, which was not surprising. To the gloating in the West, one should ask oneself whether a Swiss or German who lived in Russia and was eligible to vote would consider it desirable to vote out a president who had led Russia through years of crisis in an outstanding manner. The Russians decided at the polls based on the result: Job well done – trust expressed.

It was clear that President Putin would be re-elected – that was no surprise – the surprise was the result: after 77.53% in 2018, the 87% achieved is a record.

The level of voter turnout is also important – it was also historically high: over 74% after 67.5% in 2018.

The elections ran calmly. Thousands of small polling stations were open for 3 days. I live in the center of Moscow. The polling station, 200 meters from my apartment, was in a small school where volunteer poll workers were working. I thought I was in Switzerland.

Naturally, the Western media judged the elections to be repressive and accompanied by protests. The Russian media reported 30 incidents of disruption – in a country with 11 time zones and almost 150 million inhabitants.

The Russians have expressed their trust in President Putin, which he has well and truly earned. In spring 2022, the same Western media wrote that Russia would collapse within months. President Putin and his team prevented this and today Russia is stronger and more united than ever before.

When 74% of eligible voters take the trouble to vote, it shows a high level of interest in shaping the future of their country. In the 2023 parliamentary elections in Switzerland, voter turnout was 46.6% according to Statista. – Perhaps the Swiss media should look into the reasons for this lack of interest in the most democratic country in the world instead of lecturing the Russians.