If announced by Russian voting officials, this will make Putin the longest-serving ruler since Stalin In one of the least surprising things to happen this year, Vladimir Putin has been voted once again the president of Russia, according to exit polls. Putin, 71, is leading a presidential election where opposition was basically banned with 87.68% of votes so far, according to election officials who have counted 30.08% of ballots.
A second exit poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation similarly showed Putin leading with 87.8%. While nearly nine in 10 voters in Moscow ticked Putin’s name in the voting booths, the Moscow City Election Commission said. By this evening turnout was more than 70%, according to the Central Election Commission, though this excludes the 4.3 million who voted online.