The Russian so-called election is considered rigged according to observers. Sunday is the third and final election day but it will be Vladimir Putin who is declared president of Russia again.
– There is support for Putin, he could win without cheating. To what extent we do not know because free and fair elections are not held, says SVT’s foreign reporter Carl Fridh Kleberg.
Putin has been in power since 1999 and after the election he will be able to stay for at least six more years.
The opposition plans action
Critics of Putin have called for a protest action where the goal is to try to overload the election process by having everyone vote at exactly the same time. Even if they cannot influence the outcome of the election, they hope to show that the Russians who desire a change of power are not alone.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, has also called on protesters to write “Navalny” or any other candidate’s name on the ballot papers.
Pictures from Moscow show how long the queues are at, among other things, polling stations at 12 noon on Sunday local time. Even outside the Russian embassy in Stockholm, a long queue of people has gathered.