2020 Russian constitutional referendum

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2020 Russian constitutional referendum

25 June – 1 July 2020
Do you approve amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 57,747,288 78.56% No 15,761,978 21.44% Valid votes 73,509,266 99.18% Invalid or blank votes 604,951 0.82% Total votes 74,114,217 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 109,190,337 67.88%
Results by federal subject

A constitutional referendum was held in Russia between 25 June and 1 July 2020.^[1][2] President Vladimir Putin proposed the referendum during his address to the Federal Assembly on 15 January 2020.^[3] The draft amendments to the constitution were submitted to a referendum in accordance with article 2 of the Law on Amendments to the Constitution.^[4] The referendum is legally referred to as an "All-Russian vote" (Russian: общероссийское голосование, romanized: obshcherossiyskoye golosovaniye), for it is not held in accordance with the Federal Constitutional Law on the Referendum.^{[citation needed]}

The amendments include sweeping changes to the constitution, including allowing Putin to run again for two more six-year presidential terms (which would allow him to potentially stay in power until 2036) and enshrining social measures on pensions and welfare state as well as conservative ones such as constitutionally banning same-sex marriage,^[5] ensuring patriotic education in schools,^{[citation needed]} and placing the constitution above international law.

Originally scheduled for 22 April 2020, the vote was postponed to a later date due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia.^[6] It had been noted that the initial vote date coincided with the 150th anniversary of Vladimir Lenin's birth.^[7][8] In-person voting at the polling stations was held from 25 June to 1 July, with 1 July being declared a day off as the actual voting date. Residents of Moscow and the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast could participate in the event remotely (electronically) from 25 to 30 June.^[9][10][11]

According to official results, 79% of valid votes supported the changes to the constitution. Later that year, Putin accepted the results and signed them into law. Many international observers criticized the results of the referendum claiming widespread reports of irregularities such as: including voter coercion, multiple voting, violation of secrecy of the vote and allegations of police violence against a journalist who was present to observe. Further criticism is centered around the amendment that could extend Putin's presidency to 2036.^[12][13]