Russians vote, low turnout Putin's only threat
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-14 14:35

Russians began voting on Sunday with most set to back the re-election of President Vladimir Putin, who is promising to end years of poverty.

The only real threat to Putin's triumph would be apathetic Russian voters failing to turn out in large enough numbers. At least 50 percent turnout is needed for the election to be valid.

Incentives to lure voters to the polls in sunny Vladivostok -- where voting started seven time zones away from sleeping Muscovites -- included vouchers for free haircuts for pensioners and cinema tickets for young people.

Before polling started, Russia's top election official tried to instil enthusiasm into voters, telling them the election should be like a celebration and urged them to take an interest.

"If you are indifferent -- what kind of attitude is that?" Alexander Veshnyakov, head of the Central Election Commission, told state television. "We can't allow that to happen."

Opinion polls routinely show Putin with an approval rating of at least 70 percent. Little other than voter apathy can keep him from sweeping past five rivals to another four-year term.

On election day this apathy was apparent.

"I definitely will not vote in these elections," said 19-year-old Vladivostok student Anna Sazykina. "Everything was decided for us a long time ago."

Putin, a former KGB spy, has strong backing from Russians, weary of the chaotic post-Soviet era, for his goals of political stability and faster economic growth.

"I voted for the current authorities, because they guarantee stability," 53-year-old Nikolai Galena said after casting his vote.

COLORLESS CAMPAIGN

But the election campaign has been colorless, sparking little excitement among Russia's 109 million voters.

Despite the predictable result, opposition candidates accuse the Kremlin of plotting to skew the vote in Putin's favor.

Putin's main opponents -- liberal Irina Khakamada, communist Nikolai Kharitonov and nationalist Sergei Glazyev -- have said campaigning was marred by pro-Kremlin bias in the media. They have accused Putin of failing to combat poverty and corruption.

Some prominent liberals, regrouping after a disastrous performance in December parliamentary elections, have called for a boycott of Sunday's poll and urged supporters to concentrate efforts on the next presidential contest in 2008.

A million election officials in 95,000 polling stations have checked ballot boxes and set up the traditional stands selling cheap snacks and drinks to attract voters.

"I will definitely go to vote for Khakamada because I feel sorry for her," said 40-year-old housewife Yelena Kolesnikova as polls opened in the sunny Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

Security was tightened at airports, military sites and power plants in the world's largest country and along the border of Chechnya.

The Kremlin blames Chechen rebels for bomb attacks including a suicide bombing which killed close to 50 commuters on a packed train in southern Russia ahead of the December election.

A suicide bomb attack on the Moscow underground last month killed around 40 people. Chechen rebels were again blamed.

At least 800 foreign observers, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, are to monitor the poll.

Polling stations close at 8 p.m. local time across 11 time zones, with the last shutting its doors at 2300 EST on March 14.

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