‘Do I vote? Hell no’: Russia heads to predictable presidential election
Al Jazeera
While 71-year-old Putin is all but certain to win, some Russians are boycotting while others plan protest votes.
On Friday, Russians will head to the polls to cast their ballots in a presidential election that has an all but certain outcome.
Incumbent President Vladimir Putin is widely predicted to win a fifth term.
Assuming he serves the full six years until 2030, if taken together with his time as prime minister from 2008 to 2012, he would become the longest-reigning Russian leader since Joseph Stalin.
But formally, at least, he is pitted against three other presidential hopefuls: Leonid Slutsky of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Vladislav Davankov of the centre-right New People, and Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party.
“I’m voting for Putin because I trust him,” 69-year-old Tatyana, from Moscow, told Al Jazeera.
