Russians abroad may have their access to online voting in elections restricted
Russians who are outside the country and wish to vote online in the State Duma elections may encounter problems accessing electronic voting services.
According to The Bell, citing sources and test results from “Social Technology Incubator,” the most significant issues were found with the Moscow-based remote electronic voting platform. Out of seven connections tested, its subdomains failed to load in five cases.
The federal remote electronic voting (DEG) platform performed more reliably—the portal opened from all tested locations. However, when accessed from a German server, the “Gosuslugi” portal and the ESIA authorization system did not work; without them, it is impossible to log into the online voting system.
Problems were also found in the “DEG—2026” mobile app. It blocked all tested VPNs and VPSs, including Russian ones. In addition, the websites of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and certain regional election commissions could not be accessed from some overseas connections.
At the same time, the extent of these restrictions is currently unknown. If the issues are not resolved, some Russian voters abroad may fail to complete the authorization process and be unable to cast an electronic ballot. The tests also showed that using a VPN does not guarantee access to the system.
Source: The Bell.
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