Vladimir Putin wins re-election with an unbelievable 77 percent of the vote

Vladimir Putin won an overwhelming re-election victory

(Image credit: Sergei Chirikov/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 19 March 2018

Russia's Central Election Commission said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin won re-election with 76.67 percent of the vote in a field of eight candidates. That was a record-high number for Putin, who won his third term in 2012 with 63.3 percent. In second place was communist Pavel Grudinin, with 11.78 percent, followed by Vladimir Zhirinovsky (5.66 percent) and TV personality Ksenia Sobchak (1.68 percent), the only one of the candidates to openly criticize Putin.

The candidate most likely to do well against Putin, Alexei Navalny, was barred from running because of a questionable disqualifying conviction. Election observers reported widespread ballot stuffing and unusually intense pressure on voters to participate in the election. "Our elections have proved once again ... that it's not possible to manipulate our people," said Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of Russia's upper house. "People came together. No other country in the world has such open and transparent elections."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.