Russian Presidential Election, 2018

[Beet]

The main question is -- will Putin get a higher vote share than he did in 2012?

[henster]

Why is the ballot stuffing even necessary considering Putin's popularity and weak opposition? The whole thing is probably worth 2-3 points on Putin's margin.

[mgop]

putin is hillary of russia - all media, all bureaucracy, everything is on his side, only difference is that americans are more intelligent and can see through that and also many russians are still on government tit

[Dr. MB]

The main question is -- will Putin get a higher vote share than he did in 2012?

Yes, it looks like it.

[jaichind]

The main question is -- will Putin get a higher vote share than he did in 2012?

Obviously yes.  Especially after Crimea 2014.  Oh. Just to make sure the Russian voter remembers that election day is the 4 year anniversary of Crimea reunification with Russia.

[smoltchanov]

putin is hillary of russia - all media, all bureaucracy, everything is on his side, only difference is that americans are more intelligent and can see through that and also many russians are still on government tit

Americans are no more intelligent, then Russians (i think there are arguments for opposite point of view), but American political tradition (generally - democratic) is much stronger and long-lasting, then Russian one..

[smoltchanov]

The main question is -- will Putin get a higher vote share than he did in 2012?

Obviously yes.  Especially after Crimea 2014.  Oh. Just to make sure the Russian voter remembers that election day is the 4 year anniversary of Crimea reunification with Russia.

Crimea has special place in many Russian's (even - democratically minded) hearts. My mother, for example. She is 91, and she voted for Yavlinsky with me today. But for her Khrushchev is an idiot,  who voluntarily gave Crimea to Ukraine, while it's "proper place" is to be part of Russia. For vast majority (80+%) of Russians it's the same.

[Beet]

The main question is -- will Putin get a higher vote share than he did in 2012?

Yes, it looks like it.

Even factoring in lower turnout?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Shocking outcome.

[Leading Political Consultant Ma Anand Sheela]

Obviously it's all rigged and we'll never know the real numbers but it's still really hilarious that with 30% of the vote in Pavel Grudinin is on 15%.

[Former President tack50]

Obviously it's all rigged and we'll never know the real numbers but it's still really hilarious that with 30% of the vote in Pavel Grudinin is on 15%.

I guess he somehow concentrated the anti-Putin vote? That plus USSR nostalgics probably got him to 15%

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Obviously it's all rigged and we'll never know the real numbers but it's still really hilarious that with 30% of the vote in Pavel Grudinin is on 15%.

I guess he somehow concentrated the anti-Putin vote? That plus USSR nostalgics probably got him to 15%

Mostly old pensioners left over from the USSR, it's why their numbers shrink by a couple points every cycle.

[DavidB.]

Some footage of poll workers rigging the vote: click.

putin is hillary of russia - all media, all bureaucracy, everything is on his side, only difference is that americans are more intelligent and can see through that and also many russians are still on government tit

This is the worst take possible. I hope I don't have to explain why.

[America Needs R'hllor]

putin is hillary of russia - all media, all bureaucracy, everything is on his side, only difference is that americans are more intelligent and can see through that and also many russians are still on government tit

This is the dumbest thing I've read today, and my ex messaged me a few hours ago so believe me, I read some ridiculous stuff.

[jaichind]

I wonder if Putin will break the record set in 2008 by Medvedev who won 52.5 million votes.  It seems it will be very close but turnout has to be at around 64% for Putin to make it.

[jaichind]

Chechnya turnout is "only" 79%.  I would have expected around 95% turnout and around 99% vote for Putin.  It seems Kadyrov is off his game.

[Karpatsky]

Turnout looks like it's going to be down in general from 2012, though not by much. A defeat, if minor, for EP.

[jaichind]

(Interfax) - Cyber attacks on servers of the Russian Elections Commission that according to some data were launched from 15 countries were "on background" and cannot influence the system's work, Russian Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said.
"Indeed, we registered certain attacks. There is an opinion that they were launched from about 15 different countries. They all were on the background," Nikiforov said on the air of Channel 1 television channel.
Cyber attacks were as powerful as 10 gigabits per second, he said.
"In general, the system was ready for this. We are at a very high level of technological development, we have really great experts, and that is why no attacks, not external hackers can influence the system," he said.

[Aboa]

Why is the ballot stuffing even necessary considering Putin's popularity and weak opposition? The whole thing is probably worth 2-3 points on Putin's margin.

I've read somewhere that it's a way for the heads of federal subjects especially ethnic republics to demonstrate their loyalty to Putin.

[Former President tack50]

Here's a surprisingly great map and results page in English! If anyone is interested

https://sputniknews.com/russia-elections-2018/201803161062517712-russian-presidential-election/

Looking at the regional results, thus far the best and worst place for each candidate seems to be:

Vladimir Putin
Best: Kabardino-Balkaria (93.61%)
Worst: Sakha Republic (64.38%)

Pavel Grudinin
Best: Sakha Republic (27.25%)
Worst: Crimea (2.22%)

Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Best: Komi Republic (10.18%)
Worst: Dagestan (0.26%)

Ksenia Sobchak
Best: Moscow city (4.02%)
Worst: Dagestan (0.22%)

Grigory Yablinsky
Best: Moscow city (3.15%)
Worst: Dagestan (0.17%)

Boris Titov
Best: Ingushetia (1.63%)
Worst: Tuva (0.20%)

Maxim Suraykin
Best: North Ossetia-Alanya (1.73%)
Worst: Crimea (0.21%)

Sergey Baburin
Best: Omsk Oblast (1.12%)
Worst: Dagestan (0.12%)

Of course this is mostly academic because of vote rigging and the like. Also not sure if there are any sort of regional patterns. Seems like Putin performed best in the ethnic republics (rigged elections). Not sure about the others.

[jaichind]

Historically Putin does worst in urban centers like Moscow and Saint Petersburg

[Oryxslayer]

Putin getting 92% in Crimea...Did anyone not see something like this happening...

[jaichind]

Interfax reports that with 80% of the vote counted Putin has 76.18%, or 40.4 million voters.  If we then do the math then this implies 66.3 million voter voted which means turnout is around 59.8%, a big drop from 2012.

[Crumpets]

Chechnya turnout is "only" 79%.  I would have expected around 95% turnout and around 99% vote for Putin.  It seems Kadyrov is off his game.

Maybe he forgot to count all of the people in his concentration camps.

[Karpatsky]

Here's a surprisingly great map and results page in English! If anyone is interested

https://sputniknews.com/russia-elections-2018/201803161062517712-russian-presidential-election/

Looking at the regional results, thus far the best and worst place for each candidate seems to be:

Of course this is mostly academic because of vote rigging and the like. Also not sure if there are any sort of regional patterns. Seems like Putin performed best in the ethnic republics (rigged elections). Not sure about the others.

That is a great results page. Shame to waste so much effort on such an election.