MOSCOW • Russians voted yesterday in the final stretch of a three-day parliamentary election that the ruling party is expected to win after a sweeping crackdown that crushed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's movement and barred opponents from the ballot.
The expected win by the ruling United Russia party will be used by the Kremlin as proof of support for President Vladimir Putin despite malaise over years of faltering living standards.
The party that backs Russia's 68-year-old leader faces a ratings slump, state pollsters say, but is still more popular than its closest rivals on the ballot, the Communist Party and nationalist LDPR party, which often backs the Kremlin.
United Russia holds nearly three-quarters of the State Duma's 450 seats. That dominance last year helped the Kremlin pass constitutional reforms that allow Mr Putin to run for two more terms as president after 2024, potentially staying in power until 2036.
"If United Russia manages (to win), our country can expect another five years of poverty, five years of repression, five lost years," ran a message to supporters on Navalny's blog.
Navalny's allies were barred from running after his movement was banned in June as extremist. Other opposition figures have alleged that they were targeted with dirty tricks campaigns or not allowed to compete.
A Communist strawberry tycoon has said he was unfairly barred, while a liberal opposition politician in St Petersburg says two identically-named "spoiler" candidates are running against him to confuse his voters.
The Kremlin denies a politically driven crackdown and says individuals are prosecuted for breaking the law. Both it and United Russia deny any role in the registration process for candidates.
Navalny's camp is promoting a tactical voting ploy against United Russia - which boils down to supporting the opponent most likely to win in each district regardless of their platform - that the authorities want blocked online.
"Get a (tactical vote) recommendation. Vote. Tell someone else to do the same," Navalny's allies wrote on his Instagram page - which they run while he is in prison - yesterday.
Since voting began last Friday, Google, Apple and Telegram messenger have limited some access to the campaign on their platforms. Activists accuse them of caving to pressure.
The Central Election Commission reported voter turnout at 35.7 per cent as at 10am Moscow time yesterday. The election was set to run until 2am Singapore time today, when polling stations close in the European exclave of Kaliningrad.
It is the last national vote before the 2024 presidential election. Mr Putin, who turns 69 next month, has not said if he will run.
In Moscow, Navalny's tactical voting campaign has recommended that supporters vote for politicians like the Communist Party's Mikhail Lobanov. He said he welcomed the Navalny campaign and criticised United Russia.
"People see the glaring inequalities, they feel the effects of economic policy and the swell of repression and respond with dissatisfaction accordingly," Mr Lobanov said.
REUTERS
