The Kremlin has reportedly told local and regional officials that next year's Election Day should be party time

The Kremlin has reportedly instructed local and regional officials to boost voter turnout in next year’s presidential election by staging holiday-like festivities on Election Day. According to the magazine RBC, sources say officials have been urged to organize public fairs and cultural and sporting events, in addition to special outdoor markets with food, arts, and crafts.

In late November and early December, deputy governors and presidential envoys attended a Kremlin seminar, where they were reportedly encouraged to hold non-legally-binding plebiscites on Election Day on local issues to draw out more voters, apparently by simulating a referendum. Sources told RBC that the federal government isn’t actually interested in developing legally-binding referendums as a mode of governance.