MEP: The Russian people on Sunday headed to vote for a new parliament which is dominated by President Vladimir Putin’s supporters.
The voting, which will take about 22 hours in all of Russia’s 11 time zones, started in the far eastern region of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at 08:00 local time on Sunday (2000 GMT Saturday).
The poll for the Duma is being seen as a dry run for Vladimir Putin’s possible presidential campaign in 2018.
It is the first parliamentary vote since 2011, when allegations of ballot-rigging sparked big protests against Putin.
The United Russia (UR) Party, led by President Vladimir Putin’s long–time ally, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, has 238 (53%) of the 450 Duma seats and holds the majority in more than 80 regional parliaments.
14 parties are taking part in the national vote, double the number in the previous elections held five years ago.
In a televised message before the vote, Mr. Putin said the candidates would have “equal conditions for fair and open competition,” although observers widely agreed the elections were likely to uphold the status quo.
Some critics of President Putin got a rare chance to put their case to a mass audience on TV but significant opposition figures like Alexei Navalny were barred from campaigning.
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