RUSSIA: Russian villages prepare for Sunday's presidential election, though some residents don't believe anything will change
Record ID:
327702
RUSSIA: Russian villages prepare for Sunday's presidential election, though some residents don't believe anything will change
- Title: RUSSIA: Russian villages prepare for Sunday's presidential election, though some residents don't believe anything will change
- Date: 4th March 2012
- Summary: SMOLENSK REGION, RUSSIA (MARCH 3, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOLSHIE KHUTORA VILLAGE, WOODEN HOUSES UNDER SNOW VILLAGE POLLING STATION IN WOODEN HOUSE BILLBOARD READING IN RUSSIAN 'SUNDAY, MARCH 4 - ELECTIONS OF PRESIDENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION' VARIOUS OF MAN SHOVELLING SNOW TO CLEAR PATH TO POLLING STATION WOMAN STANDING IN DOORWAY SIGN READING IN RUSSIAN 'POLLING STATION NO. 726' (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) VILLAGE RESIDENT VALENTINA MINCHENKOVA, SAYING: "There were such TV debates, oh-ho. We've watched all debates. All good candidates, can't even think now whom to vote for. All are handsome, all are good. So, everything should be OK." VARIOUS OF OKTYABRSKAYA VILLAGE, WOODEN HOUSES UNDER SNOW MAN WITH SHOVEL IN SNOW WOODEN HOUSES BEHIND FENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) VILLAGE RESIDENT VIKTOR NIKOLAYEVICH, SAYING: "These are not the first elections, and they won't be the last ones. Elections are just elections, so what? I think over the past 20 years little has changed, very little." WINDOWS OF WOODEN HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) VILLAGE RESIDENT VIKTOR NIKOLAYEVICH, SAYING: "Whoever gets elected, the villages will remain abandoned, I think. They probably even don't know the villages exist at all." HORSE CARRIAGE WITH STACK OF HAY HOUSES IN KHISLAVICHI VILLAGE PEOPLE WALKING, CAR DRIVING NEAR POLLING STATION SIGN READING IN RUSSIAN 'SUNDAY, MARCH 4 - ELECTIONS OF PRESIDENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION' POLLING STATION ENTRANCE POLLING STATION WORKERS, PLACARD WITH FIVE CANDIDATES BIOS AND PHOTOS ON DOOR BALLOT BOX VOTING BOOTHS VARIOUS OF POLLING STATION WORKERS PREPARING VOTING BALLOTS
- Embargoed: 19th March 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA3O6T758EUOVP5F7F9B0FSP8FA
- Story Text: Preparations were underway on Saturday (March 3) across Russia for the presidential poll that is expected to return Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to the presidency he held from 2000-2008.
However, not all Russian villages will have polling stations. Villages with too few residents are required to call in advance to book a delivery of a ballot box from a nearby town or bigger village.
In villages where polling stations will operate, electoral workers were preparing voting booths, ballot boxes and voting ballots on Saturday in old wooden houses sitting in the snow. In the village of Bolshie Khutora, a man cleared snow from the entrance path to the polling station.
Villager Valentina Minchenkova stood in the doorway of an old house which will serve as polling station no. 726 on Sunday (March 4). Minchenkova said she was pleased will all of the candidates.
"There were such TV debates, oh-ho. We've watched all debates. All good candidates, can't even think now whom to vote for. All are handsome, all are good. So, everything should be OK," she said.
In the nearby village of Oktyabrskaya, local resident Viktor Nikolayevich was not very optimistic about elections.
"These are not the first elections, and they won't be the last ones. Elections are just elections, so what? I think over the past 20 years little has changed, very little," he said.
Nikolayevich said he felt the plight of villagers would not improve either.
"Whoever gets elected, the villages will remain abandoned, I think. They probably even don't know the villages exist at all," Nikolayevich added.
A recent poll from the Levada Centre, Russia's largest public research firm, suggested that Vladimir Putin will win the election with 63-66 percent of the vote, far ahead of his closest rival, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, who is forecast to win 15 percent of the vote.
Other candidates in the running are the leader of the nationalist LDPR party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the liberal A Just Russia party Sergei Mironov, and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov who has found a following among young urban voters. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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