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| Challenger in Race for Moscow Mayor Says He Can Force a Runoff | Challenger in Race for Moscow Mayor Says He Can Force a Runoff |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| MOSCOW — The first mayoral election here in a decade ended with a narrow victory for the appointed incumbent on Sunday, according to preliminary results. But his main challenger, one of President Vladimir V. Putin’s most prominent critics, claimed that he had won enough votes to force a runoff, and he warned of efforts to falsify the outcome of a race that proved to be much closer than expected. | MOSCOW — The first mayoral election here in a decade ended with a narrow victory for the appointed incumbent on Sunday, according to preliminary results. But his main challenger, one of President Vladimir V. Putin’s most prominent critics, claimed that he had won enough votes to force a runoff, and he warned of efforts to falsify the outcome of a race that proved to be much closer than expected. |
| The election was widely seen as an unusually competitive test of Mr. Putin’s power, following mass protests in 2011 and 2012 over the conduct of national elections, including Mr. Putin’s third campaign for the presidency. | The election was widely seen as an unusually competitive test of Mr. Putin’s power, following mass protests in 2011 and 2012 over the conduct of national elections, including Mr. Putin’s third campaign for the presidency. |
| Sergei S. Sobyanin, the incumbent and Kremlin insider who was appointed mayor in 2010, appeared headed to a new five-year term, though hardly with a thunderous endorsement from voters, given his overwhelming advantages in the race. | Sergei S. Sobyanin, the incumbent and Kremlin insider who was appointed mayor in 2010, appeared headed to a new five-year term, though hardly with a thunderous endorsement from voters, given his overwhelming advantages in the race. |
| Moments after the polls closed Sunday night, Aleksei A. Navalny, the charismatic lawyer and blogger who has emerged as a potent opposition leader, said that his campaign’s exit polling indicated that Mr. Sobyanin had won fewer votes than the 50 percent needed to prevent a runoff. | Moments after the polls closed Sunday night, Aleksei A. Navalny, the charismatic lawyer and blogger who has emerged as a potent opposition leader, said that his campaign’s exit polling indicated that Mr. Sobyanin had won fewer votes than the 50 percent needed to prevent a runoff. |
| With 98 percent of the ballots counted, Mr. Sobyanin’s tally hovered just above 51 percent, according to official but not yet final results announced early Monday morning. Mr. Navalny was running second with 27 percent, followed by the Communist Party’s candidate, Ivan I. Melnikov, with nearly 11 percent. Three other candidates received around 3 percent each. | |
| Mr. Navalny said his campaign’s polling indicated that he had won 35 percent, compared with about 46 percent for Mr. Sobyanin, depriving him of an outright victory. “All the data from the exit polls that we have indisputably show there will be a second round in these elections,” Mr. Navalny said at his campaign headquarters. He appeared again early on Monday and declared that if a second round were not held, he would call on Muscovites to protest. | Mr. Navalny said his campaign’s polling indicated that he had won 35 percent, compared with about 46 percent for Mr. Sobyanin, depriving him of an outright victory. “All the data from the exit polls that we have indisputably show there will be a second round in these elections,” Mr. Navalny said at his campaign headquarters. He appeared again early on Monday and declared that if a second round were not held, he would call on Muscovites to protest. |
| “We will appeal to city residents and we will call on them to come into the streets,” he said. | |
| Regardless of the final outcome, Mr. Navalny, who is 37, defied expectations for Russia’s beleaguered democratic opposition. Although Mr. Putin faces no imminent threat to his power, the election showed that his prolonged rule as the undisputed authority here has generated a significant amount of discontent, at least in the nation’s political and economic capital. A challenge of the results by Mr. Navalny could lead to more popular unrest; he has already scheduled a rally in Moscow on Monday. | Regardless of the final outcome, Mr. Navalny, who is 37, defied expectations for Russia’s beleaguered democratic opposition. Although Mr. Putin faces no imminent threat to his power, the election showed that his prolonged rule as the undisputed authority here has generated a significant amount of discontent, at least in the nation’s political and economic capital. A challenge of the results by Mr. Navalny could lead to more popular unrest; he has already scheduled a rally in Moscow on Monday. |
| Mr. Navalny, whose support in polls a few weeks ago was only in the single digits, managed through a short, intense campaign to win a greater share of the vote than any other opposition figure has managed in a major election since Mr. Putin rose to power in 1999. He did so by mounting what was for Russia a novel kind of grass roots insurgency, stumping for votes on the streets and raising money online, where he first rose to prominence by crusading against pervasive corruption in government and business. | Mr. Navalny, whose support in polls a few weeks ago was only in the single digits, managed through a short, intense campaign to win a greater share of the vote than any other opposition figure has managed in a major election since Mr. Putin rose to power in 1999. He did so by mounting what was for Russia a novel kind of grass roots insurgency, stumping for votes on the streets and raising money online, where he first rose to prominence by crusading against pervasive corruption in government and business. |
| Mr. Sobyanin appeared briefly after midnight and spoke to supporters who gathered, pointedly, in Bolotnaya Square, the plaza near the Kremlin that was the focal point of the protests in 2011 and 2012. “These were the most competitive, most fair, most open elections in the history of Moscow,” he declared, as confetti showered a crowd estimated at a few thousand. He stopped short of declaring victory, but said, “I am sure that in the end we will win.” | Mr. Sobyanin appeared briefly after midnight and spoke to supporters who gathered, pointedly, in Bolotnaya Square, the plaza near the Kremlin that was the focal point of the protests in 2011 and 2012. “These were the most competitive, most fair, most open elections in the history of Moscow,” he declared, as confetti showered a crowd estimated at a few thousand. He stopped short of declaring victory, but said, “I am sure that in the end we will win.” |
| There were also elections across Russia on Sunday for seven governors, eight mayors of regional capitals and 16 regional legislatures. Only in one other race, for mayor of Yekaterinburg, did an opposition candidate mount a significant challenge to the Kremlin’s candidate; that race remained too close to call early on Monday. | There were also elections across Russia on Sunday for seven governors, eight mayors of regional capitals and 16 regional legislatures. Only in one other race, for mayor of Yekaterinburg, did an opposition candidate mount a significant challenge to the Kremlin’s candidate; that race remained too close to call early on Monday. |
| Turnout was extremely low almost everywhere, with only about one-third of registered voters in Moscow casting ballots, underscoring the disillusionment many Russians feel with politics. | Turnout was extremely low almost everywhere, with only about one-third of registered voters in Moscow casting ballots, underscoring the disillusionment many Russians feel with politics. |
| As the scant turnout in Moscow became clear, Mr. Navalny implored his supporters to vote, and encourage others to do so as well. “If you voted already, then pick up the phone and make sure that two or three of your friends also come and vote,” he wrote on a radio station’s blog at 5 p.m. “If you’ve exhausted your telephone calls, then go to the apartment building around you and knock on doors.” | As the scant turnout in Moscow became clear, Mr. Navalny implored his supporters to vote, and encourage others to do so as well. “If you voted already, then pick up the phone and make sure that two or three of your friends also come and vote,” he wrote on a radio station’s blog at 5 p.m. “If you’ve exhausted your telephone calls, then go to the apartment building around you and knock on doors.” |
| Mr. Navalny made the election a sort of referendum on Mr. Putin. But the Kremlin now faces no significant challenge at the ballot box for years to come. The next national elections are not scheduled until 2016. | Mr. Navalny made the election a sort of referendum on Mr. Putin. But the Kremlin now faces no significant challenge at the ballot box for years to come. The next national elections are not scheduled until 2016. |
| “It’s awful,” said a retired chemist who joined voters at a schoolhouse on Lenin Prospect in Moscow. She gave only her first name and patronymic, Nona Georgievna. “This is a disaster. These are not elections — only the devil knows what to call this.” She said she voted for Mr. Navalny, but with a sense of resignation: “I don’t believe anything will change until Putin is replaced.” | |
| The decision to allow Mr. Navalny to run reflected divisions among Mr. Putin’s closest advisers over the extent to which they would tolerate competition in elections. After he registered as a candidate in July, Mr. Navalny was convicted of embezzlement in a trial that was widely denounced as rigged, only to be released on appeal the next day. | The decision to allow Mr. Navalny to run reflected divisions among Mr. Putin’s closest advisers over the extent to which they would tolerate competition in elections. After he registered as a candidate in July, Mr. Navalny was convicted of embezzlement in a trial that was widely denounced as rigged, only to be released on appeal the next day. |
| At a minimum, Mr. Navalny appeared to have succeeded in establishing himself as a new kind of political opponent here, though his appeal could be decided at any moment and he could be ordered to begin serving the five-year sentence he was given in July. | At a minimum, Mr. Navalny appeared to have succeeded in establishing himself as a new kind of political opponent here, though his appeal could be decided at any moment and he could be ordered to begin serving the five-year sentence he was given in July. |
| “Maybe he will be put into prison,” said Maksim Grachyov, a 25-year-old programmer who voted for Mr. Navalny, “but he managed to wake up people during the stagnation, when we had no alternative for many years.” | “Maybe he will be put into prison,” said Maksim Grachyov, a 25-year-old programmer who voted for Mr. Navalny, “but he managed to wake up people during the stagnation, when we had no alternative for many years.” |
| Many analysts argued that allowing Mr. Navalny’s candidacy was merely a token gesture by the Kremlin to create the appearance of a fairer process or to add legitimacy to Mr. Sobyanin’s standing as one of the most prominent elected officials beneath Mr. Putin. | Many analysts argued that allowing Mr. Navalny’s candidacy was merely a token gesture by the Kremlin to create the appearance of a fairer process or to add legitimacy to Mr. Sobyanin’s standing as one of the most prominent elected officials beneath Mr. Putin. |
| Mr. Navalny’s supporters, many of them young and educated, now face the question of how to sustain the energy his candidacy created. Some lamented the low turnout and the depth of apathy. | Mr. Navalny’s supporters, many of them young and educated, now face the question of how to sustain the energy his candidacy created. Some lamented the low turnout and the depth of apathy. |
| Grigory Chkhartishvili, a novelist and opposition leader who writes under the name Boris Akunin, wrote in a posting on Facebook: “A bad thought occurred to me: maybe this serves us right? We get what we deserve?” | Grigory Chkhartishvili, a novelist and opposition leader who writes under the name Boris Akunin, wrote in a posting on Facebook: “A bad thought occurred to me: maybe this serves us right? We get what we deserve?” |
Reporting was contributed by David M. Herszenhorn, Andrew Roth, Noah Sneider, Viktor Klimenko and Sophia Kishkovsky. | Reporting was contributed by David M. Herszenhorn, Andrew Roth, Noah Sneider, Viktor Klimenko and Sophia Kishkovsky. |