Russia’s U.S. expats to be able to vote in March presidential election

Russians living in the United States will be able to cast their ballots for another term for President Vladimir Putin in March without having to go home.

Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, confirmed plans this week for three polling stations to be set up at the embassy and at Russia’s two consulates in Houston and New York for Russian expatriates wanting to vote in the three-day election for president starting March 15.

The move comes even as U.S.-Russian relations are at a historic low point, with direct contacts minimal and the Biden administration having imposed a slew of financial and diplomatic sanctions on the Kremlin following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry last week said election officials were still weighing whether to open overseas polling stations in countries that have been sharply critical of Russia, the Agence France-Presse news service reported, citing the need to protect those who vote.

“We are asking countries to ensure security,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

But Mr. Antonov, in an interview with the official Russian news agency Tass posted Wednesday, signaled that voting will go forward at the three American sites.

“We see one of the embassy’s primary tasks as lying in the effective organization of voting [by expatriate Russian citizens] in Russia’s presidential election within the territory of the United States,” Mr. Antonov said. “We will make every effort to ensure that the necessary conditions are in place for our [U.S.-based] fellow citizens to cast their votes.”

With his most formidable challengers sidelined or jailed, Mr. Putin is expected to coast to an unprecedented fifth term in office, putting him on course to stay in power through at least 2036. A total of 14 other candidates, either self-nominated or from fringe parties, have reportedly submitted documents to Russia’s Central Election Commission to be on the presidential ballot.

One complication for the Kremlin is that a sizable number of Russians have fled the country since the Ukraine war began, either to protest the invasion or to evade military service. Many now live in Europe and Central Asia.

The presidential vote for the first time will include portions of eastern Ukraine that Russia unilaterally annexed after the invasion.