Preliminary results showed Vladimir Putin’s chosen successor as Russian president winning a landslide victory.
Dmitry Medvedev, as expected, was taking more than 66 percent of Sunday’s vote, with Communist Party leader Gennadiy Zhuganov next at less than 20 percent.
The final figures will not be released by the Central Election Committee until Monday.
Among Russian Jews, the mood ranged from the type of overwhelming support given Medvedev by the general electorate to frustration and even anger at the lack of substantive choices.
Kremlin critics and international observers have lambasted the election as critically flawed.
“I wouldn’t call it an election. It’s really important not to use that word,†said Sarah Mendelson, a Russian-area expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “An election implies a competitive process that is transparent to the voter. That’s not what this is.”
Muscovites voted amid a massive police presence — more than 23,000 police, soldiers and special forces were on duty Sunday in the capital.
The government, in an effort to combat low turnout, launched a series of programs designed to get voters to the polls.
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