MOSCOW (AP) - The Latest on Russia’s presidential election (all times local):
12 a.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has dodged a question about his plans after serving another six-year term he has won.
Putin wouldn’t be eligible under the constitution to compete in the 2024 election since there is a limit of two consecutive terms.
Asked if he could seek the presidency again in 2030, the 65-year-old Russian leader snapped back: “It’s ridiculous. Do you think I will sit here until I turn 100?”
Results from 60 percent of precincts show Putin polling more than 75 percent of the vote. The victory puts Putin on track to become Russia’s longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Many expect Putin to stay at the helm, either by scrapping term limits or shifting into another position of power.
Asked if he could launch a constitutional reform, he said he has no plans to do so.
Putin also said he will decide on the Cabinet make-up after the inauguration.
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11:40 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is dismissing British accusations of Russia’s involvement in an ex-spy’s poisoning as “nonsense,” adding that Moscow is ready to cooperate with London in the probe.
Putin on Sunday referred to the attack on ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter as a “tragedy,” but added that if the British claim that they were poisoned by the Soviet-designed nerve agent were true, the victims would have died instantly.
He said that it’s “nonsense” to think that anyone in Russia could have staged such an attack shortly before Sunday’s presidential vote and before the World Cup that Russia is set to host this summer.
In his first comments about the poisoning, the Russian leader said that Moscow was ready to cooperate with Britain in the investigation.
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11:10 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has addressed thousands of people who rallied outside the Kremlin to thank them for their support and promised new achievements.
Speaking to a crowd who attended a pop concert near the Kremlin marking his election victory, Putin hailed those who voted for him as a “big national team,” adding that “we are bound for success.”
He said that the nation needs unity to move forward and urged the audience to “think about the future of our great motherland.” He then led the enthusiastic crowd to chant “Russia!”
Results from more than half of precincts showed Putin winning over 75 percent of the vote, with Communist candidate Pavel Grudinin and ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky trailing far behind with about 13 and 6 percent, respectively.
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9:45 p.m.
Ksenia Sobchak, a liberal challenger in Russia’s presidential election who is a distant fourth in the early vote count, says she’s satisfied with her campaign.
Sobchak, who won about 1.4 percent of the vote in more than 20 percent of precincts already counted, said in televised remarks that her goal in the race was to spread liberal ideas across the country. An exit poll saw her winning about 2.5 percent of the vote.
Critics described Sobchak as a Kremlin project intended to add a democratic veneer to the election that saw President Vladimir Putin easily win about 73 percent of Sunday’s vote, according to an early vote count.
Sobchak, a 36-year-old star TV host who is the daughter of Putin’s one-time patron, has denied collusion with the Kremlin.
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9:10 p.m.
An exit poll and early returns suggest that Vladimir Putin has easily won a fourth term, keeping him as Russia’s president for six more years.
The nationwide exit poll conducted by the All-Russia Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) showed that Putin won 73.9 percent of Sunday’s presidential vote. The poll covered 161,000 respondents at 1,200 precincts in 68 Russian provinces and had a margin of error of no more than 3.5 percent.
The exit poll findings looked similar to early results from Russia’s Far East, where the presidential vote ended eight hours ago. The Central Election Commission said with 21 percent of all precincts counted, Putin was leading the race with 71.9 percent of the vote.
The exit poll showed Communist candidate Pavel Grudinin in second place with 11.2 percent of the vote, while ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky came in third with 6.7 percent.
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9 p.m.
An exit poll suggests that Vladimir Putin has handily won a fourth term as Russia’s president, adding six more years in the Kremlin for the man who has led the world’s largest country for all of the 21st century.
The vote Sunday was tainted by widespread reports of ballot-box stuffing and forced voting, but the complaints will likely do little to undermine Putin.
Putin’s main challenges in the election were to obtain a huge margin of victory in order to claim an indisputable mandate. The exit poll suggests he got more than 70 percent of the vote.
He faced seven minor candidates on the ballot. Putin’s most vehement and visible foe, anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, was rejected as a candidate because he was convicted of fraud in a case widely regarded as politically motivated.
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8:15 p.m.
Russia’s opposition leader Alexei Navalny has accused presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak of discrediting the opposition by joining the race.
Navalny told Sobchak in a YouTube broadcast that she was a “parody of a liberal candidate” and her involvement in the campaign helped the Kremlin cast the opposition in a negative light. He rejected Sobchak’s proposal to join forces.
Sobchak, a 36-year-old star TV anchor who is the daughter of Putin’s one-time patron, rejected the accusations, saying that she has used the race to champion the liberal ideas, attract public attention to some of the most acute issues and encourage important regional projects.
Critics have accused Sobchak of helping Putin create a semblance of competition in the vote he is set to easily win. She has denied collusion with the Kremlin.
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5:35 p.m.
Russia’s Central Election Commission says the turnout in the presidential election has exceeded 50 percent.
The commission says 51.9 percent of Russia’s nearly 111 million eligible voters have cast ballots as of 5 p.m. Moscow time (1400 GMT).
Election officials say efforts to encourage a higher turnout are in line with the law. Some Russians have reported being pressured by employers to show up and vote.
Election commission chief Ella Pamfilova also says officials around the country are taking quick measures in response to claims of violations.
Independent election observers and activists have alleged numerous incidents of ballot stuffing and other irregularities in Sunday’s vote, which President Vladimir Putin is certain to win.
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5:20 p.m.
Russia’s Central Election Commission says it is quickly responding to claims of violations in the presidential vote.
Commission chief Ella Pamfilova says “we are immediately reacting to all claims no matter where they come from.” She says officials quickly sealed a ballot box in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don where ballot stuffing was reported.
Election officials have responded similarly to allegations of ballot stuffing in the town of Lyubertsy just outside Moscow and the far eastern town of Artyom and have been looking into several other complaints.
Pamfilova’s deputy, Nikolai Bulayev, says “we are not hiding … even the smallest violations.”
Independent election observers and activists have alleged numerous incidents of ballot stuffing and other irregularities in Sunday’s vote, which President Vladimir Putin is certain to win.
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3:50 p.m.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he has boycotted the presidential election and is advising other Russians to do the same.
Navalny has been barred from the presidential campaign because of a criminal conviction widely seen as politically motivated. He has urged his supporters not to vote because of the absence of any real competition in Sunday’s election, which President Vladimir Putin is set to win easily.
Navalny says in a video posted on YouTube that “on election day, one should usually want to say ’I voted,’ but in fact I’m here to say that I didn’t go to vote.”
He criticized the seven contenders challenging Putin for failing to protest ballot stuffing and other irregularities that were tainting the election, saying on his blog that “such candidates aren’t worthy of your vote.”
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3:30 p.m.
Russian election officials say they are looking into several incidents of ballot stuffing in the presidential vote.
One incident was recorded in the town of Lyubertsy just outside Moscow. Irina Konovalova, the head of the election commission for the Moscow region, says all ballots in the box were declared invalid.
And in the far eastern town of Artyom a man tossed several ballots into the box, according to Tatiana Gladkhikh, the head of the regional election commission. She says the ballot box was sealed and the man was arrested.
Russia’s Central Election Commission also said it was looking into claims of ballot stuffing in Siberia’s Kemerovo region.
Independent election observers and activists have alleged numerous incidents of ballot stuffing and other irregularities in Sunday’s vote, which President Vladimir Putin is certain to win.
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2:05 p.m.
Russian opposition presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak has cast her ballot and urged Vladimir Putin’s critics to vote instead of boycotting.
Sobchak, a 36-year-old former TV star, told reporters in Moscow that the higher the support for Putin in Sunday’s vote, “the tougher the system” Russians will face in his new term.
Sobchak argued against the boycott called for by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is barred from running. She said “every extra percentage point” for Putin is a result of those who refuse or don’t bother to vote.
Sobchak called on Putin’s critics to “come together.”
Critics think Sobchak has the tacit support of the Kremlin so that the election looks more democratic, which she denies. She is the only candidate who has openly criticized Putin in the campaign.
Putin is expected to overwhelmingly win another six years in office.
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12:15 p.m.
Russia’s central election commission says its website was the target of an unsuccessful hacking attempt during Sunday’s presidential election.
Commission chair Ella Pamfilova told reporters that it was a DDoS, or distributed denial of service, attempt tracked to computers in 15 countries, without naming them. Such attacks are very common.
She said efforts to disrupt the site occurred when voters in Russia’s far east were already casting ballots, but they were deterred by Russian authorities.
As U.S. authorities investigate alleged Russian hacking and other interference in President Donald Trump’s 2016 election, Russian authorities have claimed that foreign powers are seeking to interfere in Sunday’s vote.
President Vladimir Putin is set to win, and is hoping for high turnout despite widespread apathy. Pamfilova said turnout nationwide at 11 a.m. Moscow time (0800 GMT) was 16.9 percent, up from 12.2 percent at the same time in the last election in 2012.
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11:45 a.m.
Security forces are surrounding Russian facilities in Ukraine amid anger over the Ukrainian government’s refusal to allow ordinary Russians to vote for president.
Ukrainian police are guarding the Russian Embassy in Kiev and consular offices in Odessa and other cities.
The Ukrainian government announced that only Russian diplomatic officials would be allowed to cast ballots in Sunday’s vote, which Vladimir Putin is set to win.
Millions of ethnic Russians live in Ukraine but the number of registered Russian voters in Ukraine is unclear.
Ukraine is protesting voting in Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine four years ago. Ukraine is also angry over Russian support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, where a deadly conflict continues.
Russian authorities are appealing to the United Nations and Council of Europe to intervene, according to Russian news agencies.
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10:15 a.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast his ballot in the presidential election, seeking a mandate for a fourth term.
Putin is certain to win in Sunday’s election, so voter apathy is widespread. Authorities have spent unprecedented funds to get out the vote to ensure he has a strong mandate for his next six years in office.
Some 145,000 observers are monitoring the voting in the world’s largest country, including 1,500 foreigners and representatives from opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s political movement.
Navalny himself is barred from running. Putin faces seven challengers but none poses a serious threat.
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9 a.m.
Election monitors are reporting irregularities at voting stations across Russia in a presidential election whose only open question is how many people cast ballots.
Vladimir Putin is certain to win a fourth term in Sunday’s election, so voter apathy is widespread. Authorities have spent unprecedented funds to get out the vote to ensure he has a strong mandate for his next six years in office.
Election monitoring group Golos reported dozens of apparent violations Sunday, from the Russian Far East to Moscow. The problems included multiple ballot boxes placed out of sight of observation cameras, and last-minute voter registration changes likely designed to boost turnout.
Some 145,000 observers are monitoring the voting in the world’s largest country, including 1,500 foreigners and representatives from opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s political movement.
Navalny himself is barred from running. Putin faces seven challengers but none poses a serious threat.
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See complete Associated Press coverage of the Russian election: - https://www.apnews.com/tag/RussiaElection
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