Monday, 5 December 2011Exit polls in Russia's parliamentary elections point to a sharp drop in support for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, BBC reported.
Polls for Russian state TV and the state-backed polling organisation showed United Russia got about 48.5% of the vote, down from 64% in 2007.
If the result is confirmed, United Russia could lose its current two-thirds majority which allowed it to change the constitution unchallenged. It will end up with 220 members in the 450-seat lower house.
Exit polls suggest the Communists will rank second after garnering about 20% of the vote.
"We have received thousands of calls from regional offices, confirming massive violations and fraud," said Communist Party deputy head Ivan Melnikov on the party website.
"Throughout the day, it was like receiving reports from a war zone."
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg, in Moscow, says if confirmed, the result will be a significant embarrassment to Putin, three months before he is scheduled to run again for the Russian presidency.
He says opposition parties are alleging widespread fraud, including the stuffing of ballot boxes and voters being offered money.
Russia's only independent monitoring group, Golos, logged 5,300 complaints alleging violations of election laws.
Golos, whose monitors are not affiliated with any party, said its website suffered a cyber-attack.
Putin served as president from 2000 to 2008 but was prohibited by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term. |
Monday, 5 December 2011
Novinite
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