Russian Election Выборы Президента России 2018 - The 2018 Russian presidential election is taking place on 18 March 2018. If in the first round no candidate attains an absolute majority of the votes (more than half), then according to the law a second round will take place exactly three weeks later on 8 April 2018. On 6 December 2017, incumbent President Vladimir Putin announced that he would seek reelection for a second consecutive term and fourth term overall. Putin is widely expected to win as he has consistently scored higher than 40%—and often much higher—in opinion polls since the last presidential election.On 14 February 2018, the CEC set the schedule for the distribution of airtime for presidential candidates. Debates will take place on five federal TV channels: Russia 1, Russia 24, Channel One, TV Center and PTR, as well as on three radio stations: Radio Rossii, Radio Mayak and Vesti FM. As in previous election campaigns, incumbent President Vladimir Putin refused to participate in the debates. Debates will also take place on regional TV channels and radio stations, which will be attended by representatives of all candidates, including Putin. Debates will take place from 26 February to 15 March. Vladimir Zhirinovsky was the only candidate to attend the first debate, with the other three candidates sending representatives. The second debate, which didn't actually involve any candidate-to-candidate discussion, was attended by six candidates and Boris Titov's representative.
