Reports of violations at polling stations mounted as the day progressed. By the time the polls closed, independent election monitor Golos said it had received reports of 2,742 alleged violations, including ballot boxes placed out of sight of observation cameras and observers being blocked from carrying out their job.
Russian election officials said they were looking into several reports of voting violations. It was also clear efforts were being made to get out the vote.
On Russia’s Pacific coast, in the Khabarovsk region, local officials offered food at a discount to lure people to the polls.
Voters were
being bused in across Russia to the polls, according to supporters of Aleksei Navalny, the opposition leader barred from running in the election.
They also reported hundreds of cases of alleged voter fraud, notably in Moscow and St. Petersburg, two areas where Putin has low support.
Some voters in various Russian regions said they had been pressured by their employers or teachers to
vote and take a photograph of themselves at the polling station as evidence of their participation.
While officials said voting in the Russian capital was steady and higher than the previous presidential election, in 2012, apathy was palpable at some polling stations.
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