More than 95% Crimeans voted for reunification with Russia, says official

Upon the processing of 50% ballots cast Sunday in a referendum on Crimea’s future, a total of 95.5% voters who had come to the polling stations said ‘yes’ to the reunification of their region with Russia, Mikhail Malyshev, a person in charge of the referendum commission at the Crimean legislature said.

Another 3.5% voters said ‘yes’ to Crimea’s continued stay within Ukraine. Invalidated ballots made up 1% of the total. Malyshev said that the data did not feature the results of voting in Sevastopol.

The ballots in Sunday’s referendum contained two questions: 1) Are you in favor of Crimea's reunification with Russia in the status of a constituent territory of the Russian Federation and 2) Are you in favor of restoring the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Crimea and its status of an integral part of Ukraine.

As many as 1,534,815 people of Crimea and 309,774 people in the city of Sevastopol had the right to vote in the referendum.
As many as 27 territorial election committees and 1,239 polling stations, including 192 polling stations in the city of Sevastopol were set up for the event.

The expenditures for the referendum were covered from the autonomy’s budget. Referendum’s organizational costs stood at 1.7 million U.S. dollars.

Under the Constitution of the Russian Federation the initiative of joining the Russian Federation is the prerogative of the applicant state (or of its part). The Russian president notifies the parliament and government of the Russian Federation of such a request.
After the signing of an international treaty the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation examines it for legality and compliance with the Constitution. The document undergoes ratification. The name of the new territory of the Russian Federation, its borders and transitional period are determined.

The newly-admitted territory is granted the status of a republic, territory, autonomous area or autonomous district. Next, the rules are established of granting Russian citizenship, and the status of the property assets and liabilities of the entering state and the period of the new member’s integration with the Russian system are determined.