Will it be possible to vote in Russian constitutional referendum from abroad?

Question

A couple of weeks ago the President of Russia proposed to make several amendments to the Constitution and conduct a referendum. Although official details of the process are not clear yet, is there usually a possibility to vote in such kinds of referendums for Russian citizens residing abroad?

Answer 1

is there usually a possibility to vote in such kinds of referendums for Russian citizens residing abroad?

There were only two referendums in post-Soviet Russian history, both in 1993, so this question would not have any precise answer.

But regarding Russia-wide elections, not referendums — yes, usually one can vote on Russian elections from abroad, but to do this, one should do advance preparation work in Russia. Namely, one should come to a local election comission and obtain a special document ("открепительное удостоверение") that allows to vote in any Russian election comission be it in Russia itself or abroad. Usually there will be election comissions in most Russian embassys and consulates, and a person with "открепительное удостоверение" can vote there.

Recently there were talks about electronic voting via "gosuslugi" site, but from what I understand this is no more than experiments, and there is no established protocol.

Although official details of the process are not clear yet

But regarding a specific referendum that is discussed nowadays, I think nobody knows how it will proceed. Even note that no state media nor state spokesperson actually uses a word "referendum", only different variations on "people's voting".

Answer 2

Correction to the accepted answer:

1. "открепительное удостоверение" is not needed, it is sufficient to have your passport. See, e.g., https://newyork.mid.ru/vybory-prezidenta-rossijskoj-federacii

2. All events of such kind are announced on consulates' websites. I recommend to monitor the one which is closest to your resindence.