An elderly woman casting her vote into a mobile ballot box at the front door of her home in Moscow yesterday. The election workers were dressed in personal protective equipment against the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the country. Nearly 73 per cent of Russian voters have backed constitutional changes that would allow Mr Vladimir Putin to run again for president twice more, the Interfax news agency cited electoral data as showing. Initial results from the Russian far east showed 73.7 per cent of voters had supported the reforms, the RIA news agency reported separately. The endorsement could mean Mr Putin extending his two-decade-long rule potentially up to 2036. Mr Putin, a former KGB colonel who came to power in 2000, has proposed a revised Constitution that would give him the right to run for two more six-year terms after his current mandate runs out in 2024. Voting began last week. Amid rising public discontent, officials have been wooing Russians with populist sweeteners such as an effective constitutional ban on gay marriage, along with financial windfalls for voters, while blocking any campaigning against a "yes" vote.