To vote in State Duma elections abroad you need a valid foreign passport

Brief retelling from RIA II

For voting in State Duma elections abroad, the main document is a valid foreign passport of a Russian citizen.

The internal passport of the Russian Federation is not used to obtain a ballot at a foreign polling station.

Diplomats and civil service employees can vote using a diplomatic or service passport, and if they are lost, using a certificate of entry (return) to the Russian Federation.

MOSCOW, September 17 - RIA Novosti. Citizens of Russia who are abroad can vote in State Duma elections only with a valid foreign passport, Ilya Rudenko, chairman of the Corps “For Clean Elections”, head of the Regional Development Department of the Office of the Russian Lawyers Association, told RIA Novosti.

“For the majority of Russians abroad, the main document for voting in elections to the State Duma abroad is a valid foreign passport,” Rudenko said.

He noted that the internal passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation is not included in the list of documents for issuing a ballot at a foreign polling station.

“Therefore, a citizen planning to vote abroad should rely primarily on a valid international passport. The law also provides for separate special documents, but an internal Russian passport is not used to obtain a ballot at a foreign polling station for the State Duma elections in 2026,” the lawyer added.

Rudenko explained that diplomats and civil service employees on business trips abroad can vote using a diplomatic or service passport, and if they are lost, a certificate of entry (return) to the Russian Federation.

Elections of deputies to the State Duma of the ninth convocation will take place in September. Voting will take place from September 18 to 20. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the upcoming elections to the State Duma the most important domestic political event in the country.