Vladimir Putin has posted a landslide victory in Russia’s election, with exit polls showing he has secured at least 73% of the vote, a marked improvement on the 63.6% he won in 2012.
Putin’s nearest rival, millionaire Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, secured around 12% of the ballots, with nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky coming third with around 6%.
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State exit polls have put voter turnout at more than 60%, the BBC says, with Putin’s campaign team hoping for as large voter numbers “to give him the strongest possible mandate.”
However, there have been several complaints made of ballot stuffing and other measures designed to boost turnout figures.
Putin’s opponents claim that employers with close ties to the government had ordered staff to vote “so that a low turnout would not tarnish the win,” the Reuters news agency says.
Staff were reportedly asked to provide evidence they had voted, and journalists witnessed a number of people at different locations voting in groups, and photographing themselves at the ballot box.
The win will see Putin in power for a further six years, when by law he must step down, in 2024, at the age of 71.
CNN notes that Putin has not visibly groomed a successor, “prompting speculation he may try to find ways to extend his power beyond this term.”
However, when asked by a journalist if he would run for president again, Putin said: “What you’re saying is just silly… what, am I going to sit here for 100 years?”
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