Voting begins in Russian regional elections

MOSCOW - Voting has begun in regional and municipal elections across Russia, with about 55 million citizens eligible to cast ballots, Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) said Friday.

From Friday to Sunday, more than 5,000 elections are being held nationwide. Voters will elect governors, regional legislative assemblies and municipal councils.

According to the CEC, gubernatorial elections are being held in 20 regions. Legislative assemblies will be chosen in 11 regions, and city councils will be elected in 25 administrative centers. More than 49,500 polling stations will be open from 8 am to 8 pm local time through Sunday.

Voters can cast their ballots in person or online, with remote electronic voting available in 24 regions this year and over 1.7 million applications submitted. In most regions, voting will span three days.

This year's unified voting day does not include by-elections for the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. Under legislation that came into effect in May, by-elections for representative bodies in the year are not scheduled preceding nationwide parliamentary elections. Currently, eight constituencies remain without deputies.