Putin likely to coast to election win
Low voter turnout as president remains far ahead in polls
Russians voted in a presidential election on Sunday that was expected to give Vladimir Putin an easy victory, but his opponents alleged officials were compelling people to come to the polls so that a low turnout does not tarnish the win.
Opinion polls give Putin, the incumbent, support of around 70 percent, or nearly 10 times the backing of his nearest challenger.
Another term will take him to nearly a quarter century in power.
Many voters credit Putin with standing up for Russia’s interests in what they view as a hostile outside world.
Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region, alleged Kremlin meddling in the US presidential election, and Moscow’s bombing campaign in Syria, have been condemned in the West.
But for most people at home, they have only burnished Putin’s reputation as a strong leader.
A row with Britain over allegations that the Kremlin used a nerve toxin to poison a Russian double agent in an English city – denied by Moscow – has not dented Putin’s standing.
“I voted for Putin,” said Lyubov Kachan, a teacher in the settlement of Ust-Djeguta, in southern Russia.
“If anything is not going our way right now, that’s thanks to the world which treats us so negatively, while he is trying to stand up to that,” she said.
The biggest headache for Putin’s campaign was the possibility that many voters, including Putin supporters, would not bother to come to the polls because they felt the outcome was already a foregone conclusion.
Putin opponents alleged employers with close ties to the state were ordering staff to vote, and send back evidence.
Reuters reporters witnessed multiple people in different locations voting in groups, and then taking photos of themselves in front of the ballot boxes on their phones.
Some arrived at polling stations on board private-hire buses.
A low turnout would diminish Putin’s authority within the ruling elite, which is founded in large part on his ability to mobilize the public behind him.
“There is no intrigue. I do not see any point for me in going to the election,” said Alexei Khvorostov, a resident of Krasnodar, in southern Russia.
Nina Bostanova, a pensioner in Ust-Djeguta, said she decided not to vote. “What’s the point? They’ll get elected anyway. Why go and vote?” she said.
Turnout nationwide was at 51.9 percent by 1400 GMT, official data showed. A low turnout would diminish Putin’s authority within the ruling elite, which is founded in large part on his ability to mobilise the public behind him.
The first politician in years to challenge the Kremlin’s grip on power, Alexei Navalny, is barred from the race because of a corruption conviction he says was fabricated. He is calling for a boycott of the election, saying it is an undemocratic farce.