Vladimir Putin met with members of the Central Election Commission and heads of regional election commissions of the Russian Federation in Novo-Ogarev. The event is timed to the 30th anniversary of the country’s electoral system. The President presented state awards to representatives of election commissions.
Vladimir Putin: Dear colleagues, friends, good afternoon!
I am glad to welcome the members of the Central Election Commission and the chairmen of the election commissions of the constituent entities of the Federation – and, of course, once again I cordially congratulate all of you, all your colleagues in the regions, on the 30th anniversary of the electoral system of our country, Russia.
I would like to emphasize right away that election commissions are certainly the most important state institutions, because the authorities in our country are elected by citizens in direct elections, in conditions of high competition. Therefore, a clear organization of elections, their open, honest, legislatively verified conduct are very important, if not decisive, from the point of view of preserving internal political stability, both for the legitimacy of the elected government and for strengthening people’s confidence in the results of the vote.
The key role in these processes, of course, belongs to the election commissions. Regardless of their level, each acts independently on the basis of the law, its competence, functions and internal control. Decisions are made collectively, as the commissions are formed from representatives of various political forces and social groups.
Suffice it to say that in the composition of commissions at all levels – you know, I have just looked at the documents, I was surprised to find this figure for myself – 900 thousand members with the right to vote, and thousands more observers from candidates, parties, and public organizations take part in election observation.
I would also like to emphasize that the use of video surveillance in elections is one of the most effective forms of civil and public control. Nowhere in the world is it used as widely as in our country, we have video cameras installed at the vast majority of polling stations.
Dear colleagues! I understand very well that your activity is very complex. Of course, you are independent in your work, but this also increases your responsibility to all participants in the electoral process and, of course, to society, to the state, to our people by an order of magnitude. Your work requires deep knowledge, clarity, organization, objectivity and, to a large extent, the ability to be sensitive with people, to be attentive to their requests and claims. I can imagine how much it takes nerves.
Elections – both federal and regional – are always a difficult, tense period. I want to thank all of you for your endurance, for a decent, high level of work. I hope that your activities will continue to be aimed primarily at ensuring the electoral rights of citizens, including strengthening educational work in society, among different social groups, so that people understand their capabilities, the power of their voice, and realize the importance of their civic duty.
As for the actions of the State, we will continue to do everything necessary to exclude any illegal intrusion into the electoral process. Attempts of external and internal interference, pressure on the electoral process will be suppressed.
I would like to note one more important circumstance: for 30 years, a sound legislative and regulatory framework has been formed in the field of elections, but our electoral system continues to improve, and its distinguishing feature is increasingly becoming maximum information openness.
Now there are more than 20 electronic services on the portals of public services and the CEC. They provide a qualitatively new level of accessibility and transparency of electoral procedures and are already perceived not as an innovation, but as the usual electoral standards of Russia.
Such services are used by voters, candidates, parties, observers, the media and, of course, the election commissions themselves. An electronic voting system is being actively implemented, such an experience has already been tested in 30 regions. Ella Alexandrovna [Pamfilova] she once proved to me the advantages of this form of voting, and in fact she was right.
The use of modern standards by election commissions has made it possible to achieve a significant increase in confidence both in the elections and in the electoral system itself. All sociological studies record this. Thus, according to the results of a single voting day in 2020, 60 percent of VTSIOM respondents said they trusted the election results, and in September 2022, 69 percent believed that the elections in their region were generally fair, without serious violations.
Of course, the assessment is quite democratic, but it should not reassure us. Of course, it is necessary to continue working on improving the electoral system, in particular, to more actively engage in the creation of a digital platform, which in the near future should replace the current version of the GAS “Elections”.
Dear colleagues!
In conclusion, I would like to say about the selfless, well-coordinated work of the election commissions of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions in the elections that took place this year. They were regulated by Russian legislation for the first time and took place in very difficult, difficult conditions.
The CEC of Russia and regional election commissions supported these election commissions in every possible way, helped to create the necessary infrastructure for holding elections. I won’t list everything, but the range of tasks was very wide: equipment, training and integration into the Russian electoral system – listen, just ensuring the safety of the people who worked there. It is important that everyone who dealt with these issues solved these tasks with dignity. Special thanks to Ella Alexandrovna Pamfilova, she did everything possible for our electoral system to confidently respond to all difficult challenges.
There are election commission officers present here who have shown courage in carrying out the tasks assigned to them. Today, dear colleagues, you will be awarded state awards of the country.
At the same time, I understand well that it is difficult for everyone who works in the election commissions of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. I just want to thank you cordially from myself, from the country, and thank you for your courage and loyalty to Russia.
E.Pamfilova: Dear colleagues! Of course, I’m very worried, I even wrote myself a cheat sheet.
For me, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, it is a great honor to receive an award today from you and our brave colleagues from the Donetsk People’s Republic, who during the last elections, under the shelling of Volnovakha by fascist Bandera, were injured, cut, bruised and, despite this, continued their important mission, did not leave the commission, worked.
Colleagues, I am grateful to all of you – to all of you who are present in this hall, I am grateful to all those who are far away from us now. Because this award is, of course, your main work, our joint work. And those who are far away from us, and those who are nearby, [thank you]– from the members of the CEC to the farthest precinct election commission.
How many courageous, wonderful people we have in the [electoral]system. I am grateful to our entire almost million-strong community of election commissions of our great, wonderful, beloved country. In whatever conditions they do not have to work. Modest, courageous, despite the fact that most of them are women.
I thank all our regions for the fact that during these historic elections that took place in the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions… For the first time in the history of modern Russia, when people chose their power. This was the will of the people. And in the most difficult conditions, military conditions – but this was the will of the people – our commission members from almost all regions helped to organize elections for our brave colleagues from there, and to conduct these elections. It’s worth a lot, a low bow.
I admire our colleagues who [worked]so that people working there could vote anywhere in our country, even in the most inaccessible areas. Sometimes even on a polar night – at night – they fly over the Arctic Ocean to Franz Josef Land, to weather stations, to polar stations – wherever they go. This is admirable, and, indeed, their great work is in this high award.
I am looking at you now, and in my mind I see our colleagues, my dear colleagues, who are now, at this moment, fighting on the fronts of their own for you and me, for Russia, and those of your colleagues who, in addition to their main work, in addition to problems, are constantly helping our fighters at the front. I consider this an important civic mission for myself. Thank you all very much.
Of course, unfortunately, among our volunteers who voluntarily went to fight for Russia, there are dead. We honor them, we remember them, we have a long memory for them, we will never forget them.
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Of course, I could today, taking advantage of such a wonderful occasion, boast a little, tell about our achievements – and there are a lot of them. Indeed, over the years we have created one of the most modern electoral systems in the world – well, certainly the most open and transparent, there are no analogues in the world. But I will not, forgive me, talk about our achievements today, about digitalization and other successes.
I want to say briefly about the most important thing. Over the years of working in the system, it has simply become the most important, the most important revelation for me how many unique, wonderful people there are in the system. They are the core, the heart of our system, our commissions. It is they who give strength.
You know, we are so different – we are really different, like all our people, but these are truly people’s commissions, flesh of the flesh of our people.
Despite all our differences, our differences, what unites us? First of all, love for Russia, responsibility and duty to the country and the desire to contribute to its development, strengthening and our common victory.
I bow low to all of you, and I am very grateful.
We love Russia, we serve Russia.
T. Moskovchuk: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!
First of all, I want to convey to you the gratitude of the Donetsk people, from all residents of the Donetsk People’s Republic for the fact that Russia has finally become our home. And of course, thank you for the high award of my contribution to the formation and development of the electoral system of our region.
You know, during the voting days, all members of the election commission risked their lives, received threats from neo-fascists, but no one, no one refused to work. We were proud to open the polling stations with the Anthem of Russia, we understood the importance of these elections, because they were the first in the Russian Federation, and we could not allow them to be disrupted.
I would like to say just a few more words about our unique voters who, despite everything, went to the polls as a holiday. They wanted to take part in this historic event, because they understood that these elections establish the legislative power in the republic. They greeted us with a smile in their homes, they went to the plots with their families.
Perhaps that is why we have shown one of the best results in the country.
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: A colleague said about the voters.
Do you know what I would like to say at the end of this solemn ceremony? We are working for these people, we are all together: me, you, the Government, local leaders. This is the whole point of our work and our life.
Now it was said about the people who came to vote as a holiday. But the holiday was still peculiar. When I watched what was happening – I will not hide it, I have already said this once, but it’s not a sin to repeat it again – of course, I was surprised by what was happening there. Here are people lined up to vote – shelling. They left, someone went down to some basements. The shelling ended – they immediately left, and again there is the same queue at the polling station, and people are standing and voting. Surprisingly. And people are amazing – people who are strong in heart and soul, character, and they have largely shown many of us an example of how to live and work, what kind of core everyone should have in order to achieve the result we need. And we have always achieved and will continue to do so in the future, including thanks to your work. Thank you very much.
E.Pamfilova: Thank you.
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, is it possible to take the opportunity at such a unique meeting, in such a composition, and break the protocol so that our two colleagues can say a few words? If you’ll let me.
Vladimir Putin: Please.
Elena Pamfilova: Andrey Vladimirovich Burov, Rostov region, who has done a lot on its territory in order for us to help.
A.Burov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Dear colleagues! I thank you for the opportunity to speak here today.
The electoral process management system has indeed been seriously optimized over the past few years. We can really say that we have radically changed the way we work with our voters.
Indeed, our digital projects, such as “Mobile Precinct”, “Informuchastok”, remote electronic voting, are understandable to the majority of our voters today. And most importantly, they are not only understandable, but really made the voting process more convenient and simple.
Our multi-level education system allows any one of a million of our colleagues to log into this system online and get absolutely all the answers to the questions they have.
And our most important achievement is that we really “reached” our voter. These are not just beautiful words, behind this is the result of our work and what we have been doing all these years.
We are not standing still, we are constantly trying to make some innovations. This helps us a lot, including when working in new territories.
It so happened that the Rostov region was one of the first to start interacting with new subjects: we are neighbors, and it could not be any other way. Indeed, many projects in the Donetsk, Lugansk republics, in the Kherson, Zaporozhye regions were implemented through us.
I remember the year 2021, when electronic remote voting was first tested on the territory of another state – then there was another state. As a result, 200 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation voted using electronic resources, and 50 thousand came to our polling stations, which were deployed in the Rostov region.
Of course, this was the work of many, many executive authorities, and all state authorities.
The next stage that comes to mind is, of course, the work on the entry of new subjects into the Russian Federation. Start is the great training that was implemented in the Rostov region, when hundreds of our colleagues from new territories received clear, understandable, humane algorithms of behavior in any situation, and most importantly, received human communication and answers to the questions that bothered them.
Many of my colleagues, comrades, friends left for the territories and continued their work there, already on the spot. Neither the shelling nor the provocations misled us in any way. We understood that the referendum, the elections must take place, must take place in strict accordance with the current legislation, legitimately and absolutely openly.
Sometimes you come across such notes when they say: yes, this vote was at gunpoint. I’ll tell you, Vladimir Vladimirovich. I was there, I saw these voters, I saw their eyes and saw a sincere desire to join Russia.
And our biggest achievement in these two years, and indeed in our 30-year history, is that we have always been together, and together we will solve absolutely everything.
Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich.
E.Pamfilova: Klimenko Elena Viktorovna from the Sverdlovsk region.
Yevgeny Klimenko: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Dear Ella Alexandrovna! Dear colleagues!
You know, I was probably just as worried at my first meeting when I was elected chairman. I am 40 years old, and such a responsibility.
The Sverdlovsk region is 25 thousand people – members of precinct election commissions in this, I would call it, an interesting subject, very politically diverse and, as Andrei Vladimirovich [Burov] has already noted, [these are people]with a rod inside, the support of Russia. When the excitement in the process of being elected chairman passed, I had to act, because the big road begins with a small step.
Probably, the very first step that I took as chairman in this case was an attempt to find constructive relationships with those observers who sometimes act quite actively, but discreditingly, on the electoral system.
You also noted in your report that we have a large system, and there are at least three observers for each polling station, who sometimes write complaints directly, which put members of precinct election commissions into a state of nervousness. Naturally, in the Sverdlovsk region, and we have very active people, there have always been many such complaints.
We tried to find a dialogue with these observers. I made a decision to invite – as you know, there used to be such an organization as Golos. I don’t know about my colleagues, whether they are currently operating in the regions or not. There were curators assigned, we invited this curator to us for training members of precinct election commissions. If you criticize – show me, maybe we are doing something wrong, we will try. We are also ready to see how the members of the precinct commissions are trained correctly in order to minimize the number of complaints.
He came, an hour and a half, then we sat down on a bench with him. I say, “Well?” And he’s red, he says, “It’s hard.” I say: “And this is how we work on the day of voting, when you are trying to actively “teach us life.”
After that, of course, he did not become an adherent of the Russian electoral system. But nevertheless, when he met these people personally, when he looked – and there was a hall, we invited him to train members of precinct commissions of the largest territorial commission, almost 100-odd people were present in the hall. You know, this personal communication, when he came to the station, disarmed him, because he knew these people, he understood that they work, and they work rejected.
Few people know that it was this situation that served to implement the project of the Public Observation Center in the future. It has been operating in the Sverdlovsk Region since 2017. This project is a platform for an open, honest dialogue, where any citizens who have questions about the electoral system, the organization of voting at polling stations can come and ask these questions directly, without hesitation, as is. And we, for our part, the electoral commission systems, are actually doing everything to make the electoral process accessible.
Yes, our laws are sometimes not clear to everyone. But for our part, as colleagues – I am sure every chairman of the subject election commission – we find the time and the right words to explain our legislation.
And you know, it is a great honor for me to be a part of the Russian electoral system. I’m proud of it.
Thank you very much.
Vladimir Putin: I cannot deny myself the pleasure of commenting on the colleagues who spoke.
As for the observers, this is a very important part of the work, extremely important. Because the most important result of any elections in Russia is their legitimacy, because this is the basis of political stability. That’s the main thing. First.
Second. Of course, we need to work with all observers – from the parties in power, from the opposition – precisely because of what I just said – so that the legitimacy is absolutely obvious.
There are different people there, different characters, different temperaments, different ambitions – everything is clear. And there are violations. Life is complex and diverse, everything happens.
There are, of course, at the same time people, as our people say, even if they have a stake on their head, because they have other tasks, they get money elsewhere. Their task is not to identify some of the mistakes and show these mistakes and thereby raise this very legitimacy, but the task is just to destroy this legitimacy and work out the money they receive – in fact, the money is small, as it turned out, but still it is necessary to work out.
But this does not mean that you do not need to work with everyone. We need to work with everyone, that’s obvious.
Now about technology and working with people. A colleague spoke from Rostov-on-Don, said two things that I noticed: a sincere attitude to people and that we are introducing modern technology. It is, and we will continue to do it. I said this in my opening speech, and we will use artificial intelligence. But today, no artificial intelligence can replace a sincere attitude towards people.
Thank you very much for your work. We will work with you again, in any case, you will definitely work again, because it will be difficult to replace this component of a sincere, professional attitude to business with technology.
Thank you very much.
