The date coincided with the day of the annexation of Crimea.
The state Duma in the third and final reading approved a package of amendments to the electoral legislation the conduct of elections of the President of Russia on the day of the fourth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.
Originally, Russian law stipulated that presidential elections are held on the second Sunday of March. If this day was a work due to the transfer of public holidays (e.g. March 8), the election would shift to the first Sunday of the month.
However, Russian senators decided to change this system and to postpone the election is not on the preceding and the following Sunday of the month. In 2018 the third Sunday in March falls on the 18th, the fourth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
© 2017, paradox. All rights reserved.