Russian presidential election, 2000

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Russian presidential elections were held on March 26, 2000. Incumbent, Prime Minister, and acting President Vladimir Putin, who had succeeded Boris Yeltsin on his resignation December 31, 1999, was seeking a four-year term in his own right and won the elections in the first round. Polling stations were opened from 8 a. m. to 8 p. m. local time.

A total of 33 candidates were nominated, 15 submitted the application forms to the Central Electoral Committee, and ultimately 12 candidates were registered. One of them withdrawn shortly before the deadline, so there were 11 candidates that took part in the elections: Vladimir Putin, Gennady Zyuganov, Grigory Yavlinsky, Amangeldy Tuleyev, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Konstantin Titov, Ella Pamfilova, Stanislav Govorukhin, Yury Skuratov, Alexander Podberyozkin and Umar Dzhabrailov.

The decision to conduct the presidential elections also in Chechnya was perceived as controversial by many observers due to the military campaign and security concerns. [1]. The legislative elections on December 19, 1999 had been suspended in Chechnya for these reasons.

It is also notable that the number of registered voters had increased dramatically since the legislative elections - by 1,298,087.

The PACE observers delegation concluded that "the unequal access to television was one of the main reasons for a degree of unfairness of the campaign" and that "independent media have come under increasing pressure and that media in general, be they State-owned or private, failed to a large extent to provide impartial information about the election campaign and candidates."[1]

The PACE delegation also reported that the media got more and more dominated by politically influential owners. The TV channel ORT launched a slanderous campaign against Yavlinsky's image as his ratings started to rise sharply, and broadcasters generally nearly ignored candidates who did not fulfil interests of their owners. One of the main independent broadcasters, NTV, was subject to increasing financial and administrative pressure during the electoral campaign.

Putin's campaign press service announced that he decided not to use the free radio and television time provided to all candidates and not to take part in TV debates. A number of other candidates explained this as a refusal to clarify his position on various controversial issues. However, during the campaign Putin excessively often appeared on TV screens as a newsmaker.[2]

There were also many allegedly serious forgeries reported that could affect Putin's victory in the first round.[3][4]

[edit] National summary

e•d 26 March 2004 Russian presidential election results
Candidates Nominating parties Votes %
Vladimir Putin 39,740,467 52.94
Gennady Zyuganov Communist Party of the Russian Federation 21,928,468 29.21
Grigory Yavlinsky Yabloko 4,351,450 5.80
Aman Tuleyev 2,217,364 3.84
Vladimir Zhirinovsky Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 2,026,509 2.70
Konstantin Titov 1,107,269 1.47
Ella Pamfilova For civil dignity 758,967 1.01
Stanislav Govorukhin 328,723 0.44
Yury Skuratov 319,189 0.43
Alexey Podberezkin 98,177 0.13
Umar Dzhabrailov 78,498 0.10
Against all 1,414,673 1.88
TOTAL 74,387,754 100.00

Putin’s highest official result was in Ingushetia - 85.42 %, his lowest achievement was in neighbouring Chechnya – 29.65%, Zyuganov’s results ranged from 47.41% in the Lipetsk region to 4.63% in Ingushetia, Yavlinsky’s results ranged from 18.56% in Moscow to 0.42% in Dagestan, Zhirinovsky’s results ranged from 6.13% in the Kamchatka region to 0.29% in Ingushetia.

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ Ad hoc Committee to observe the Russian presidential election (26 March 2000) PACE Report. April 3, 2000.
  2. ^ Ad hoc Committee to observe the Russian presidential election (26 March 2000) PACE Report. April 3, 2000.
  3. ^ Election Fraud Reports.The Moscow Times. (in English)
  4. ^ The Operation "Successor" by Vladimir Pribylovsky and Yuriy Felshtinsky. (in Russian)

[edit] External links

reviewed by Luke March in: Slavic Review 63.4 (Winter 2004), 897-898.
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