March 15, 2004

MOSCOW - Incumbent Vladimir Putin appeared headed toward a strong mandate for a second presidential term, winning 69 percent of the vote Sunday, according to an exit poll.

The poll, conducted by the non-governmental Public Opinion Foundation, surveyed votes by 120,000 people in 1,200 polling station.

With 15 percent of the vote counted, Putin was leading with 66.5 percent, said Central Election Commission chief Alexander Veshnyakov.

Ninety minutes before polls closed in heavily populated western Russia, electoral officials said that 61.18 percent of voters nationwide had cast ballots. Once the turnout exceeded 50 percent, the election was considered valid.

Assured of victory, Putin was looking for a powerful turnout to further strengthen his grip over Russia — already tightened by his appointment of a loyal new Cabinet just before the vote and by December parliamentary elections that gave the main pro-Kremlin party full control over lawmaking.

Putin, who reined in Russia's independent media following his first election in 2000, dominated the nationwide television networks before the vote. His five challengers received less coverage, adding to the widespread impression that the vote was a one-horse race.

"I voted for Putin because he is going to win anyway and what is the point in voting for someone else," said financial inspector Yelena Chebakova, 31, one of a handful of early voters at a Moscow polling station.

A frenzy of television appeals by Putin, his rivals and even top religious leaders urging people to vote reflected Kremlin concerns that the lack of a challenger with a chance of unseating the president might keep Russians away from the ballot box.

After voting in Moscow on Sunday morning alongside his wife, Lyudmila, Putin made a last-minute plea, saying that "much depends on this election" and that "the feeling of involvement must increase year after year."

The election lasted 22 hours, stretching over 11 time zones, before ending at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&e=2&u=/ap/20040314/ap_on_re_eu/russia_election