RUSSIA: Russians vote regional elections testing the strength of two big pro-Kremlin parties ahead December's nationwide parliamentary polls

Record ID: 755738

  • Title: RUSSIA: Russians vote regional elections testing the strength of two big pro-Kremlin parties ahead December's nationwide parliamentary polls
  • Date: 12th March 2007
  • Summary: (W4) KHIMKI, RUSSIA (MARCH 11, 2007) (REUTERS) INTERIOR OF POLLING STATION ELECTION OFFICIAL MEN TURNING OVER BALLOT BOX OBSERVERS VARIOUS OF ELECTION OFFICIALS COUNTING BALLOT PAPERS SECURITY OFFICIALS COUNTING BALLOT PAPERS
  • Embargoed: 27th March 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2WC9W63I2IRSPMMAP7KB2HZTT
  • Story Text: Russians voted on Sunday in regional elections, testing the strength of two big pro-Kremlin parties ahead of nationwide parliamentary polls in December.
    Two pro-Kremlin parties jointly won more than 50 percent of the votes on Sunday (March 11) in Russia's regional elections, viewed as a dress rehearsal for crucial national polls in December, according to an exit poll.
    Some 31 million voters in 14 regions were eligible to cast ballots on Sunday, just under a third of the total electorate.
    The last polling stations closed at 1800 GMT in the Samara region on the Volga River.
    According to exit polls published by VTsIOM pollster for 10 regions the two big pro-Kremlin parties -- United Russia and Fair Russia -- were likely to win a combined total of between 55 and 71 percent of vote, depending on the region.
    The Communist Party was projected to take between 11 percent and 25 percent while the ultra-nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party scored between 10 and 14 percent.
    VTsIOM did not release a national average share of the vote for each party.
    Putin's high personal popularity, the Kremlin's tight control of the media and Russia's strong economic growth meant the opposition stood no serious chance of winning, even before the ballot exclusions.
    The VTsIOM exit poll suggested that the liberal Union of the Right Wing Forces could scrape past the 7 percent minimum vote needed to win seats in local legislatures in three regions.
    Official results were expected to start coming out later on Sunday evening and continue through the night.
    Political leaders view Sunday's vote as a dress rehearsal for elections to the Duma (lower house of parliament) in December, closely followed by presidential elections in March 2008, when a successor to Putin will be chosen.
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