Early returns show Putin has nearly 88% of the vote in election where opposition was stifled
Russians crowded outside polling stations at midday Sunday on the last day of a presidential election, apparently heeding an opposition call to protest against President Vladimir Putin in a vote that offered them no real alternatives.
Russians crowded outside polling stations at midday Sunday on the last day of a presidential election, apparently heeding an opposition call to protest against President Vladimir Putin in a vote that offered them no real alternatives.
Putin is poised to extend his nearly quarter century of rule for six more years after a relentless crackdown on dissent — and early returns announced after polls closed in Russia showed he had nearly 88% of the vote with 24% of the precincts counted, according to Russia’s Central Election Commission.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holding his year-end press conference at Gostiny Dvor exhibition hall in central Moscow on Dec. 14, 2023.Alexander Kazakov / AFP - Getty Images fileThe election took place amid attacks within Russia by Ukrainian missiles and drones, which have killed several people. Polling happened in a tightly controlled environment where Putin only faces competition from three token rivals and any public criticism of him or his war in Ukraine is stifled.
Putin’s fiercest political foe, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison last month, and other critics are either in jail or in exile. Beyond the fact that voters have virtually no choice, independent monitoring of the election is extremely limited.
Navalny’s associates urged those unhappy with Putin or the war to protest by coming to the polls at noon on Sunday — and lines outside a number of polling stations both inside Russia and at its embassies around the world appeared to swell at that time.
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