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Pro-Kremlin party leads in polls Pro-Kremlin party leads in polls
(about 7 hours later)
First results show that the governing United Russia party is leading in all nine regional polls held across Russia on Sunday, electoral officials say. Preliminary results from Sunday's regional elections in Russia show the governing United Russia party scored big wins despite the economic downturn.
They say that the party is also heading the elections in a number of municipal elections held on the same day. It is leading by large margins in all nine regional parliament elections, as well as in a number of municipal polls.
The polls are seen as the first test of the government's popularity since a sharp downturn in Russia's economy. The Communist Party had been seen as well placed to benefit from voter dissatisfaction, but it is coming a distant second in many of the contests.
Opponents of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have criticised the polls as flawed. However, opposition officials have complained of widespread cheating.
They said the governing United Russia party was using its control of the media to sway the vote in its favour. They said United Russia, which is led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, was using its control of the country's media to sway voters.
United Russia dismissed the criticism as voters turned out to elect mayors and regional parliaments. The Central Election Commission said it had found no violations of electoral law capable of influencing the vote.
The central electoral committee said it had found no violations of electoral law capable of influencing the vote. 'Shortcomings'
Medvedev confident About a fifth of Russia's eligible voters were able to take part in Sunday's elections, which saw trial voting by internet in five regions.
About a fifth of Russia's eligible voters were able to take part in Sunday's elections, which saw trial voting by internet in five regions. The main part of the population is not yet feeling the crisis Alexei GrazhdankinDeputy head of independent polling group the Levada Centre Votes were cast in 79 of the Russian Federation's 83 territories. Cities that were electing mayors included Novosibirsk in Siberia and Chelyabinsk in the Urals. However, the two biggest cities, Moscow and St Petersburg, did not vote.
Votes were cast in 79 of the Russian Federation's 83 territories. Cities that were electing mayors included Novosibirsk in Siberia and Chelyabinsk in the Urals. I believe that the current economic crisis will not damage social stability so severely Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
Correspondents say that a low turnout could signal voter dissatisfaction with the authorities. Turnout was 55.7%, up slightly on the last comparable vote, Central Election Commission chairman Vladimir Churov said on Monday.
Wages have fallen in Russia and unemployment has jumped to its highest level in two and a half years, now standing at 5.8 million. Preliminary results showed United Russia leading in most regions. Support for the party ranged from 42.5% in the Arctic Nenets district to 79.5% in the Muslim republic of Tatarstan, according to the Reuters news agency.
Communist leader and veteran opposition politician Gennady Zyuganov described the governing party's campaign as "dirty and unforgiveable". Figures on mayoral and district council votes were not immediately available.
The Communists hope nonetheless to put up a strong challenge in industrial regions like Bryansk in the south-west, where they believe they have as much as 60% support. Communist Party leaders said the official figures did not tally with their own calculations and expressed "great doubt" about the elections' legiticmacy.
In an interview with Spanish media before flying to Madrid for a state visit, President Medvedev said he did not think the downturn would trigger instability in his country. Votes were cast in 79 of the Russian Federation's regions
"Present-day Russia's economic and social systems greatly differ from those that existed 10-15 years ago," he said. "When in Bryansk, for example, workers were forced to work on a Sunday and vote on site at a polling station controlled by the authorities, you can't call that an election," central committee member Sergei Obukhov told Reuters.
"Fifteen years ago Russia was economically weak, it could not compete with major countries, it had lost its entire economic potential or at least a significant part of it. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), also protested at the interference of the authorities in the activities of his party's local representatives ahead of Sunday's polls.
"In recent years, we have managed to change the situation and, therefore, I believe that the current economic crisis will not damage social stability so severely." "There are shortcomings causing our indignation and irritation," he said.
Alexei Grazhdankin, deputy head of independent polling group the Levada Centre, predicted that United Russia would win most of Sunday's votes by a large margin but its support was likely to fall by about 5% on previous elections. The Communist Party had been expected take advantage of increasing dissatisfaction among many Russian voters caused by falling wages and rising unemployment, which is at its highest level for two and a half years.
"The main part of the population is not yet feeling the crisis," he told Reuters news agency. But the election showed no significant swing towards the Communists.
"People who live on the periphery, in small towns and in villages, the effects of the crisis have not reached them."