After a presidential election that was accompanied by allegations of manipulation, Russian state media predicted a record result of at least 87 percent of the vote for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. Russian state television declared the 71-year-old the winner based on follow-up polls conducted by several Kremlin-affiliated institutes. No real opposition candidates were allowed in the vote on a fifth term in office for Putin, which was accompanied by numerous protests.
Voter turnout was 73.33 percent as of 8 p.m. Moscow time, according to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Russian state news agency Tass reported. That would correspond to the highest number ever in a Russian presidential election. The first meaningful results should be available this Monday. As a rule, the forecasts agree with the result announced at the end. It would be a record for Putin, who received 76.7 percent of the vote in 2018.
The result was already clear before the election, and there was no notable opposing candidate. Opposition members who should be taken seriously have either had to flee abroad, are in prison, or have died under unclear circumstances. Observers therefore criticized the election as unfree and unfair. Opposition and independent Russian media reported on manipulation and attempts at intimidation surrounding the election. The civil rights portal OWD-Info has counted 77 arrests so far that are connected to the election. Voting also took place in the territories in Ukraine that were occupied in violation of international law; the elections there are not recognized under international law.
The election was accompanied by protests
Although Putin’s confirmation into office was only a formality, the election is still important for the Kremlin. The high approval ratings give him legitimacy for the drastic measures in Ukraine and against opponents of the regime in his own country.
Putin is now likely to present the result as confirmation of his anti-Western and authoritarian course. Observers expect that with this support for the next six years in office he will once again significantly increase his war of aggression against Ukraine. Many Russians also fear a new mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists. Domestically, the thumbscrews in the country could also be tightened significantly in order to stifle the protests from Putin’s opponents that were visible on the three election days. Tax increases have also been announced to finance the high expenditure on the war and social policy projects.
The election was accompanied by protests. Despite threats from the Kremlin, thousands of Russian citizens followed the call of the team of the late opposition activist Alexei Navalny and came to the polling stations around midday, where long queues subsequently formed. Independent observers pointed to systematic fraud in the election. Since the first day of voting on Friday, a large number of cases have been documented in which employees of state-owned companies were pressured to vote and in some cases even had to take photos as evidence of their completed voting slip. Critics also complained that the online process in particular was easy to manipulate. Observers also documented the mass stuffing of pre-filled ballot papers into the ballot boxes.