By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has certified Vladimir Putin’s victory in the March 4 presidential polls.
Putin won a landslide victory with 63.6 percent of the vote.
“We officially declare Vladimir Putin, who received 45,602,075 votes, which totals 63.6 percent, or over half of the ballots cast by voters who took part in the election, winner of the Russian presidential election,” the CEC said Wednesday.
Putin’s closest rival, communist leader Gennady Zyuganov got 17.18 percent, independent candidate Mikhail Prokhorov secured 7.98 percent, Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky 6.22 percent, and A Just Russia Party leader Sergei Mironov 3.85 percent.
Zyuganov and leaders of ongoing anti-Putin protests refused to recognise the polls as legitimate, citing widespread allegations of ballot-stuffing and multiple voting.
The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said in a report that the election was “clearly skewed” in favour of Putin.
The polls also triggered protest rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg that ended with scores of arrests.
However, Russian election authorities said the polls were the “most honest, open and transparent” in the world.
Putin was president between 2000 and 2008, when he was forced to stand down by the Constitution. He will be inaugurated May 7.