RUSSIA: Polls close in Russian presidential election and the vote count is underway in the poll which preliminary results confirm Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's resounding victory

Record ID: 327724

  • Title: RUSSIA: Polls close in Russian presidential election and the vote count is underway in the poll which preliminary results confirm Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's resounding victory
  • Date: 5th March 2012
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MARCH 4, 2012) (REUTERS) MAN SIGNING IN TO VOTE AT TABLE MAN CASTING BALLOT LEGS OF ELECTION COMMISSIONER AT BALLOT BOX (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HEAD OF POLLING STATION #149, NO NAME GIVEN, SAYING: "Attention voters and members of the election commission of the polling station No. 149. It is 8 o'clock. Poling station # 149 is stopping its work." POLLING STATION WORKERS GATHERING MATERIALS MAN FILMING PROCEEDINGS WOMAN WRITING ON BOARD MAN FILMING WHILE WOMAN WRITES ON BOARD POLLING STATION WORKERS GOING THROUGH VOTER ROLLS WOMAN'S HANDS AND VOTERS ROLL POLL WORKER UNBUNDLING UNUSED BALLOTS WOMAN'S HANDS CUTTING OFFOF UNUSED BALLOTS OBSERVERS TALKING TO ELECTION COMMISSION OFFICIAL MAN HOLDING PORTABLE BALLOT BOX, SAYING 'BOX NUMBER 1, 16 BALLOTS' MAN'S HANDS CUTTING LOCK ON BALLOT BOX MAN EMPTYING BALLOT BOX ON TABLE, THEN SHOWING IT IS EMPTY TO OBSERVERS AND WEB CAMERA ON CEILING WEB CAMERA POLL WORKERS WAITING AT WALL WORKERS EMPTYING OUT BALLOT BOX PILE OF BALLOTS, HAND SEPARATING THEM PEOPLE WATCHING PROCESS BALLOTS POURING OUT OF BALLOT BOX WOMEN TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF PROCESS RUSSIAN FLAG ON WALL, THEN WORKERS ORGANISING BALLOTS WOMAN'S HANDS SEPARATING BALLOTS OBSERVERS ON CHAIR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF PROCEEDINGS ELECTION COMMISSIONER HOLDING UP BALLOT TO OBSERVERS AND WEB CAMERA, SAYING 'PROKHOROV' STACK OF BALLOTS OBSERVERS COMMISSIONER HOLDING BALLOT, SAYING 'PUTIN' THEN SHOWING IT TO OBSERVERS AND CAMERA
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2Y57ESLUIT045RPA8LE5USKPG
  • Story Text: Polls closed across Russia on Sunday (March 4) night, and election commission workers in more than 90,000 polling stations began counting votes that confirmed a resounding victory for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
    Last-minute voters cast their ballots just before closing at 8 p.m. (1600 GMT) at a polling station in Moscow, before the a poll commissioner announced the vote was over.
    Putin won a resounding victory in Russia's presidential election on Sunday, exit polls showed, securing a new six-year term in the Kremlin and a mandate to deal with opposition protests after a vote that opponents said was marred by fraud.
    Under the watchful eye of vote monitors and web cameras at the polling station, workers compiled the vote registry, cancelled blank ballots and emptied ballot boxes. A commissioner opened a portable ballot box in front of monitors and then raised the empty box toward the ceiling to show the web camera broadcasting the vote counting process to the Russian Central Election Commission.
    Workers separated the completed paper ballots one by one, and a poll commissioner read out each result aloud and showed the ballot to cameras.
    Two television exit polls, released after voting ended at 1700 GMT, forecast the prime minister would win between 59.3 and 58.3 percent of the votes, easily enough to make a runoff against the second-placed candidate unnecessary.
    Putin's nearest rival, communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov, fell short of 20 percent in both exit polls. Zyuganov said his party would not recognise the official results of the election, calling it "illegitimate, dishonest and non-transparent."
    Putin swiftly dismissed fraud allegations, which will be repeated at opposition protests starting on Monday (March 5).
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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