- Title: RUSSIA: RUSSIANS PREPARE TO VOTE IN COUNTRY'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
- Date: 25th March 2000
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MARCH 25, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS VIEWS KREMLIN (2 SHOTS) 0.08 2. WIDE OF ARBAT STREET 0.11 3. VARIOUS VIEWS OF STAND SELLING MATRIOSHKA (LITLE MOTHER) DOLLS (2 SHOTS) 0.17 4. VARIOUS VIEWS OF "POLITICAL MATRIOSHKA", WITH PAINTED PICTURES OF ACTING PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, FORMER PRESIDENTS BORIS YELTSIN AND MIKHAIL GORBACHEV (8 SHOTS) 1.02 5. WIDE OF CUSTOMERS LOOKING AT MATRIOSHKAS 1.06 6. WIDE OF STREET 1.12 7. VARIOUS VIEWS TRAFFIC POLICE STOP CARS, CHECK DRIVERS' PAPERWORK (8 SHOTS) 2.09 8. VARIOUS STREET SCENES (3 SHOTS) 2.32 9. LV: EXTERIOR VIEW POLLING STATION 2.36 10. VARIOUS INTERIORS POLLING STATION (5 SHOTS) 2.56 11. MV: VOTING BOOTHS 3.00 12. SCU: POSTER WITH LIST OF CANDIDATES 3.04 13. VARIOUS VIEWS NEWS CONFERENCE AT OPENING OF ELECTION COMMISSION CENTRE (5 SHOTS) 3.26 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 9th April 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Reuters ID: LVA24D5P1DG6RNIRY9OTDQAVDN9T
- Story Text: Russians have had a day of rest from campaigning on the
eve of Sunday's presidential poll which the Acting President
Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win.
From midnight on Friday (March 24), campaigning in the
Russian presidential election was banned to allow people to
reflect on their choice.But if opinion polls are correct,
many have already made up their minds in favour of Putin.
He enjoys a wide lead over his closest rival, Communist
leader Gennady Zyuganov, although doubts remain whether Putin
would get the 50 per cent needed to win in the first round.
His apparently sure victory has made for a dull campaign,
but has raised questions about Russia's future course.
Putin, who has gone from being an obscure spy chief to
possible leader of the world's largest country in less than a
year, appealed on Friday for people to turn out and vote.
He said the 108 million who will go to the polls across 11
time zones had to choose a leader capable of restoring
Russia's prestige and overseeing its vast nuclear arsenal.
Moscow Police stepped up security checks Saturday (March
25) to prevent possible disruptions to Sunday's election.
Traffic police stopped cars at random near the outskirts of
Moscow, checking
drivers' identities and paperwork.
Meantime, street vendors in Moscow's old Arbat shopping
street are already taking a Putin victory as a foregone
conclusion.Several artists have started painting Putin's
likeness on traditional wooden Matrioshka (Little Mother)
dolls.
The "political Matrioshka," which can cost up to 100 U.S.
dollars, consists of a series of wooden dolls, stacked within
one another, with the faces of various Russian leaders, going
as far back in history as Peter the Great.
Matrioshkas have always been a popluar Russian export,
and should Putin not be elected on Sunday, against all
expectations, the dolls would become collectors items as
artists begin to draw
the face of the new President.
Polling in the 11 time zones which span Russia lasts from
8:00 a.m.to 8:00 p.m.-- from 2000 GMT on March 25 to 1700
GMT on March 26.
An exit poll and the first provisional election results
from the Far East will be available as the last western
polling stations close.A clearer picture will emerge within
hours.
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