How Russia's top officials vote.
President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin went to the polls yesterday, just like ordinary Russians, to vote for new members of Moscow's legislative assembly - the City Duma.
Medvedev was the first to turn up at the ballot station at School No. 1118 in western Moscow, around 11 a.m. He filled out his ballots fast and did not seem to have to think long. However, for some reason the electronic ballot box refused to accept his papers on the first attempt. Not in the least embarrassed, the president cast his ballot again, shrugging in a this-new-equipment-needs-adjustment manner.
The prime minister appeared in the afternoon, at his local ballot station no. 2079 in the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"The voter turnout is not high so far, about 12%," an election commission member stated sadly. By 5 p.m., only 47 people had voted at the desk designated for the prime minister's neighbourhood; he was the 48th. On the way to the desk, Putin stopped to shake hands with a respectable-looking man wearing a cap.
"What a place to meet," said the man who turned out to be Vyacheslav Kostikov, Boris Yeltsin's spokesman, now living in the same area as Putin. (As is known, the prime minister does have a permanent registration in Moscow, although he spends most of the time in his official out-of-town residence in Novo-Ogaryovo.)
"Yes, isn't it," Putin smiled at his acquaintance.
Kostikov later told KP that he and Putin also met at the ballot station at the previous parliamentary election.
"What a remarkable coincidence," Kostikov said.
The prime minister produced his passport in a fine leather cover. Putin handed it to the election commission lady and waited patiently for her to find his name on the list. After signing the required box, he filled out his ballot, also without thinking long, and dropped it into the ballot box. This time the electronic device swallowed the paper without a hitch.
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OFFICIAL
According to Russia's Central Election Commission, local legislatures were elected on the same day in 75 regions. Voter turnout as of 5 p.m. Moscow time was between 11.6% (in Arkhangelsk) and 80.3% (in Magas in Ingushetia). Chechen voters were active as usual: 47.8% came to the polls to vote for 236 town-hall heads and 2,565 lawmakers.
Moscow was slower this time, as only around a quarter of the residents had voted by 4 p.m.
By the evening official reports said that the voting was valid in most of the country's regions.
Dagestan was the only region where a shadow was cast over proceedings by the threat of terrorism. One-third of the ballot stations in Derbent remained shut for fear of attacks. The Presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, Vladimir Ustinov, flew to Dagestan to help defuse the situation.
Andrei Ryabtsev