Observers Cry Foul Over Putin Victory

Monitors say gov't tampered with polls Kasparov calls 'dirtiest'
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 3, 2007 7:53 AM CST
Observers Cry Foul Over Putin Victory
Alexandra Zhaldybina, 101, signs in papers before voting in a village of Markovo, 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Smolensk, western Russia, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007. Russians voted Sunday in a parliamentary election where the only question is whether President Vladimir Putin's party will win merely a strong...   (Associated Press)

Even as Vladimir Putin hailed his party's decisive victory in Russian elections yesterday as a mandate, international elections observers said the polling was neither free nor fair, and complained of government interference. State employees were reportedly ordered to vote for Putin, CNN reports, and Garry Kasparov’s Other Russia party was left off the ballot entirely. “We cannot say there were fair elections,” said one observer.

“More or less, Russia now has moved to a soft version of one-party dictatorship,” Kasparov said. US and UK officials called for an investigation, with the US complaining that intimidation and media control had swayed the election. But a Kremlin spokesman said elections were fair, offering as proof the three- or four-party parliament that resulted. (More Vladimir Putin stories.)

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