The ruling
United Russia party was set for victory in a number of local election seats on
Sunday, but was also on course for some setbacks as Kremlin critic Alexei
Navalny's supporters made rare gains in Siberia. Voting for local
elections took place in dozens of Russia's 85 regions as voters cast their
ballots to elect regional governors and lawmakers in city legislatures. Several
by-elections for national MPs were also held on Sunday. Independent monitors
slammed a reported "stream" of voting irregularities in regional polls,
which caught international interest after Navalny's poisoning on August 20,
allegedly by Russian authorities.
United Russia's chairman Dmitry Medvedev lauded the party's
successes, saying that exit polls suggested it was heading for victory in
regional legislatures. According to initial results, a second-round runoff was
not expected in any of 18 regions that elected governors. Official results are
expected on Monday. Several regions registered large turnouts in two days of
early voting, with more than 50% of the electorate casting ballots early in the
far eastern Jewish Autonomous Region and in Tatarstan.
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