About 55 million Russians are to elect governors, deputies of legislative assemblies and municipal authorities, and the vote for the head of the regions of Tatarstan, Sevastopol, Kursk and Bryansk regions will be held on one voting day, TASS reported.
From September 12 to 14, more than 5 thousand election campaigns will be held in Russia. Governors will be elected in 20 regions, deputies of legislative assemblies in 11, and city councils in 25 administrative centers. More than 49,500 polling stations will operate from 08:00 to 20:00 local time, they will close on September 14. It will be possible to vote in person and online, remote electronic voting will be held in 24 regions. As reported by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, voting will be held in most regions within three days.
For the first time since 2022, the single voting day does not include by-elections to the State Duma. This is due to the law that came into force in May 2025, according to which by-elections for deputies of representative bodies are not scheduled in the year preceding the main elections. To date, eight regions remain without a deputy.
Initially, 15 campaigns for direct elections of governors were expected in the fall of 2025, but by the summer their number had increased to 20. During this time, several regional leaders left their posts prematurely or moved to new positions. Thus, the former head of Komi Vladimir Uyba became the first deputy head of the Main Military Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the former governor of the Rostov region Vasily Golubev received a seat as a senator in the regional legislative assembly, and Andrei Nikitin took up the post of Minister of Transport in July. Two former governors have changed their offices with the status of defendants in a criminal case: Maxim Egorov of the Tambov region was detained on suspicion of corruption, and Alexei Smirnov of the Kursk region is accused of embezzling budget funds allocated for the construction of defense facilities on the border with Ukraine.
Among the current acting governors there are both debutants and those who already have experience in elections, but in other regions. Among the debutants are Yevgeny Solntsev (Orenburg region), Yuri Slyusar (Rostov region), Maria Kostyuk (Jewish Autonomous Region) and the veteran of special operations Yevgeny Pervyshov (Tambov region). Former State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein (Kursk Oblast) will mark his first experience of participating in gubernatorial elections. The acting governors who will fight for the new region are Rostislav Goldshten (Komi) and Denis Pasler (Sverdlovsk Oblast). Political analysts from the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society (FORGO) predict that most of the current governors will be able to confidently confirm their positions, while some will improve their results thanks to public support and the stability of social and infrastructure programs.
In 2025, 17 regional election commissions created 118 extraterritorial polling stations in 19 regions, 68 of which were formed in Donbass and the so-called Novorossiya. In addition, Kamchatka and Kursk Oblasts will use home voting for security reasons.
Moscow is once again playing a major role in the single voting day, although elections are not being held in the capital. The city will open 14 extraterritorial polling stations with electronic voting terminals for residents of 19 regions where gubernatorial elections will be held. They will be opened in 12 "Gosuslugi" centers located in shopping malls, as well as in a hotel complex and a metro station. Almost 18 thousand people have expressed a desire to vote at these polling stations. Electronic voting using portable terminals will also be used for the first time in eight pre-trial detention centers in Moscow.
The powers of the eighth composition of the Central Election Commission of Russia expire in March 2026. According to the law, the CEC is formed by 15 members, five people are appointed by the president, the Federation Council and the State Duma. The formation of the current composition in 2021 was accompanied by a significant update: seven new members joined the commission compared to the composition of 2016.