Russian Presidential Election: Vladimir Putin wins with a huge majority

New Delhi: Russian president Vladimir Putin gets another six years in power as the people of the country voted collectively for him in the presidential elections, indicating that in the face of rising tensions with the West, they look up to a powerful leader. “On Sunday in an election that saw Vladimir Putin secure an expected victory in the presidential election by securing 71.97 per cent of votes with 21.33 per cent of ballots counted”,  the Central Election Commission said. According to BBC, the scale of victory -which had been widely predicted - was a marked increase in his share of the vote from 2012, when he won 64 per cent. A Russian state exit poll gave him 73.9 per cent of the vote, easily defeating his closest competitor. Main opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred from the race. Earlier in the day, several media reports suggested that the voter turnout in Russian presidential race was set to top 2012 figures. The turnout was on course to surpass figures registered in the previous ballot in 2012, an official from the electoral committee said. About 107 million Russians were eligible to cast ballots and the central election commission said turnout was 60 per cent three hours before polls closed in Moscow, after the authorities used both the carrot and the stick to boost participation. Nikolay Bulayev of the Central Election Commission said 34 per cent of eligible voters had made their way to polling stations by midday Moscow time, nine hours before counting was due to begin in central Russia.