Russia holds a presidential election on March 18 but voting started early in the flat, snow-covered expanses of the Siberian Arctic, home to the nomadic Nenets people who herd reindeer. (Reuters)
Voting Starts Early For Russia's Nomadic Herders
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Members of the "Yamb To" (Long Lake) indigenous community greet a helicopter with electoral commission officials at a reindeer camping ground in Nenets autonomous district, Russia, March 1, 2018.
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Indigenous children, well wrapped up against the cold. Temperatures here can reach -40 Celsius.
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A woman sits under a sheet of paper with information about the presidential candidates, inside a chum - a large tent made of tall wooden poles covered with reindeer hides.
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Indigenous people examine the candidates...
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...and cast their ballots.
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An electoral commission official emerges from a chum during the early voting.
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A herder feeds his reindeer. A top concern among these voters is the development of oil fields encroaching on pasture grounds.
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The weather-beaten face of a nomad herder.
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Open-air voting in the Arctic Circle.
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Electoral commission members leave a weather station in the settlement of Cape Konstantinovsky, in Nenets autonomous district, Russia, March 8, 2018.
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Children run towards a helicopter with electoral commission officials.