Dmitry Medvedev supported Russias first internet voting experiment held in Novomoskovsk and said such technologies should be further developed. He said wider use would require changing election law so all citizens could vote online. Vladimir Churov called the experiment successful, said attempts to disrupt it failed, and said the results had already been sent to lawmakers for further discussion.

The President of Russia supported the experiment with Internet voting conducted the day before as part of the single election day in the city of Novomoskovsk, Tula Region. Dmitry Medvedev believes that this technology must be further developed so that with each new election an increasing number of Russian citizens can use it. But this will require changes to election law.
On Monday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev received Central Election Commission Chairman Vladimir Churov at the Kremlin. The conversation focused on the results of the regional elections that were held the day before in five regions of the country.
This campaign differed from all the others in that, for the first time in Russia’s history, the CEC tested Internet voting at one of the polling stations. Those who wished received a compact disc with which they could duplicate their vote. Since this technology had only just appeared, specialists wanted to see how citizens would react to the innovation and how effective such a voting method would be.
Medvedev, known for his love of electronic technologies, supported the innovation, saying that such a practice must be developed further.
“Such technologies must definitely be developed. In any case, after a certain, fairly short period of time, these technologies will be used, including with the right of decisive vote. I mean the possibility of tabulating the results,” Medvedev told Churov.
As RIA Novosti reports, the head of state also noted that for the successful advancement of online voting technology it is necessary to change the legislation and “ensure that any citizen has the opportunity to vote in this way, because for now there is no such opportunity.”
Recall that the first Internet elections in Russia’s history were held in the city of Novomoskovsk, Tula Region.
In total, deputies were elected to legislative bodies in the Chechen Republic, Zabaykalsky Krai, Kemerovo, Irkutsk and Sakhalin regions, as well as to representative bodies of local self-government and heads of municipal formations in 68 regions of the country.
According to preliminary data, United Russia won the majority in the parliamentary elections in all five constituent entities.
For his part, Vladimir Churov told the president that he was also satisfied with the experiment and hopes for changes in the legislation to conduct such voting in the future. However, it may take several years before such technology is introduced everywhere.
By the way, there were attempts to disrupt the experiment. “Hackers were on standby from the moment we announced the experiment. They were unable to interrupt the traffic, unable to crack the program. Everything worked in normal mode,” Churov noted.
Following the electronic voting, a detailed report has already been prepared, which will be presented to the administration of the President of the Russian Federation, as well as to State Duma deputies and senators. “The results of the experiment will be laid on the legislators’ table; let them think about it,” the CEC head concluded, adding that Russians turned out to be more ready for the new form of elections than previously thought.
As for the elections themselves, according to Churov, the remarks regarding their conduct (there are various complaints from A Just Russia, the LDPR and the communists) will not affect the results.
“The elections were held calmly, without serious incidents. The remarks received are now being considered, just as they were considered yesterday in an expedited manner,” the CEC head noted. “They could not affect the preliminary election results,” the head of Russia’s CEC added. The final voting results will be known shortly.
Medvedev, in response, expressed hope that the election results would preserve the viability of the authorities and ensure maximum transparency in the decisions being made.
In addition, Churov noted the “political activity of citizens.” “The elections took place in all constituent entities; the main thing is that in all constituent entities except Sakhalin Region, turnout increased significantly,” Churov said. According to him, turnout increased by several tens of percent in Kemerovo Region, and by 7–8% in the other constituent entities.