World Alert: Putin claims victory in Russia’s presidential election, as expected. His fourth term will run until 2024.

Russian President Vladimir Putin cruised to reelection in a vote that designed to show widespread public support for the country's long-dominant ruler. The Central Election Commission said that with about a third of the ballots counted, more than 73.1 percent were for Putin. Putin's opponents also included a nationalist and two liberals. But Putin barely campaigned, opposition activist Alexei Navalny was barred from the ballot and kept off television, and a landslide victory for Putin always appeared certain. An aggressive government effort to get people to the polls appeared to bear some fruit. At 6 p.m. Moscow time, the election commission said, nationwide turnout stood at 59.9 percent — just above the level at that time in the 2012 election.

Democracy Dies in Darkness     World Alert Sun, Mar 18, 2018, 4:09 PM     Putin claims victory in Russia's presidential election, as expected. His fourth term will run until 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin cruised to reelection in a vote that designed to show widespread public support for the country's long-dominant ruler. The Central Election Commission said that with about a third of the ballots counted, more than 73.1 percent were for Putin. Putin's opponents also included a nationalist and two liberals. But Putin barely campaigned, opposition activist Alexei Navalny was barred from the ballot and kept off television, and a landslide victory for Putin always appeared certain. An aggressive government effort to get people to the polls appeared to bear some fruit. At 6 p.m. Moscow time, the election commission said, nationwide turnout stood at 59.9 percent — just above the level at that time in the 2012 election. Read more » Advertisement You received this email because you signed up for news alerts from The Washington Post. Manage my newsletters and alerts | Unsubscribe Privacy Policy | Help ©2018 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071