Russia's President Putin set for win
Updated on 02 December 2007
Exit polls suggest President Putin's party has won a landslide election victory, but opponents claim widespread vote-rigging.
"These are the dirtiest, most irresponsible elections... they have thought up at least 15 ways to entrap and betray voters".Veteran Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov
Fraud claims
Opposition politicians and independent monitors Golos cried foul even before the polls closed, alleging numerous instances of ballot-stuffing, pressure on voters to pick the main pro-Kremlin party and multiple voting.
But Vladimir Churov, chairman of the Central Electoral Commission, claimed, foreign observers had not reported any abuses and voting was proceeding "calmly and according to schedule."
Former world chess champion and opposition icon Garry Kasparov denounced the election after intentionally spoiling his ballot paper at a snowbound central Moscow polling station.
He told reporters, "They are not just rigging the vote, they are raping the whole electoral system. These elections are a reminder of Soviet elections when there was no choice."
Pro-Western parties are unlikely to pass the minimum 7% hurdle needed to enter the next State Duma, or lower house.
"I'm in a good, festive mood. Thank God, the election campaign is over. I'm sure the voters have made a decision about their preferences."President Putin
Putin confident
However, the opposition's complaints were irrelevant for many of the 106 million registered voters. Many Russians have enjoyed an oil boom under Putin that has boosted wages and living standards.
He hopes a win today will be a show of public support which Putin hopes to use as a mandate to retain influence after his second presidential term ends next year.
55-year-old Putin, who heads his party's list of election candidates, is unclear about what future role he intends to play.
Voters statistics
If turnout matches the last election, 100 million Russians will have cast a vote in a ballot that has taken place across 11 time zones.
There are 95,000 polling stations with 350 overseas.
Election watchdog absent
Fewer than 300 foreign observers, half from former Soviet republics, have been accredited for the election. This has been criticised as the figure is lower than during the 2003 election.
The West's main election watchdog, the ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights), was not monitoring the vote, creating a headache for embassies which normally rely on its judgement about election fairness.
The ODIHR pulled out after a row with Moscow over delays in issuing visas.
Putin has said the election will be "honest, as transparent as possible and open" and told Western governments to keep their "snotty noses" out of Russia's affairs and stop trying to undermine the election.
