Russia election: Vladimir Putin wins by big margin
Vladimir Putin will lead Russia for another six years, after securing an expected victory in Sunday's presidential election.
Mr
Putin, who has ruled the country as either president or prime minister
since 1999, got more than 76% of the vote, official results show.
The main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was barred from the race.
Addressing a rally in Moscow, Mr Putin said voters had "recognised the achievements of the last few years".
Speaking to reporters after the results were announced, he laughed off a question about running again in another six years.
"What you are saying is a bit funny. Do you think that I will stay here until I'm 100 years old? No!" he said.
The scale of victory - which had been widely predicted - appears
to be a marked increase in his share of the vote from 2012, when he won
64%.
Mr Putin's nearest competitor, millionaire communist Pavel Grudinin, received about 12%.
The
race also included Ksenia Sobchak, a former reality TV host, and
veteran nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky - they got less than 2% and
about 6% respectively.
Mr Putin's campaign team said it was an "incredible victory".
"The
percentage that we have just seen speaks for itself. It's a mandate
which Putin needs for future decisions, and he has a lot of them to
make," a spokesman told Russia's Interfax.
In some areas, free food and discounts in local shops were on offer near polling stations.
Every free world leader who congratulates Putin on his "election" is complicit in his global war on democracy. They undermine their own status as freely elected leaders.— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 18, 2018
Video recordings from polling stations showed irregularities in a
number of towns and cities across Russia. Several showed election
officials stuffing boxes with ballot papers.
Mr Navalny was excluded from the election because of an embezzlement conviction that he said was manufactured by the Kremlin.
In his first reaction to the news, Mr Navalny indicated he had been unable to contain his anger.
"Now
is the season of Lent. I took it upon myself never to get angry and not
to raise my voice. Oh well, I'll try again next year," he tweeted.
During polling day, independent election monitoring group Golos reported hundreds of irregularities, including:
- Voting papers found in some ballot boxes before polls opened
- Observers were barred from entering some polling stations
- Some people were bussed in amid suspicion of forced voting
- Webcams at polling stations were obstructed by balloons and other obstacles
Комиссия №268 в Кемерово решила, что шарики - хороший способ закрыть видеокамеру и спокойно приступить к подсчету https://t.co/zJSNxoH8i5 pic.twitter.com/qMwJCkTZO1— Движение Голос (@golosinfo) March 18, 2018
In Dagestan, one election official said he was prevented from doing his job by a crowd of men who blocked the ballot box.
But Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Electoral Commission, said there were no serious violations.
"We have analysed and monitored everything we could, everything that
has arrived. Thank goodness, it's all rather modest so far," she told a
commission meeting while speaking about violations.
She had earlier said that anyone involved in violations would be caught.
Sunday's
vote was also the first in Crimea since Russia seized the region from
Ukraine. Mr Putin's victory rally coincided with the anniversary of the
annexation.
The annexation was bitterly contested by Kiev and
ratcheted up tensions between Russia and the West. Russians living in
Ukraine were unable to take part in Sunday's vote because access to
Russian diplomatic missions was blocked by the Kiev government.
BBC
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