Protesting in a way murdered dissident Alexei Navalny had outlined prior to his death, Russians lined up in lines at polling stations on Sunday to cast their ballots opposing the continued rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is destined to win his fifth six-year term in office, the Washington Post reports.
The “Noon Against Putin” action encouraged Russians to line up on the last day of the three-day voting people to show the unification of the opposition against the long-time Russian autocrat, who put rules in place that will ensure he wins this election and the next one, leaving him in place until at least 2036. Putin has ordered opponents murdered or exiled, or as in the case of Navalny, both.
The polls were largely empty before noon when people started queuing up to vote, forming long lines to enter the polling stations despite the Russian government warning people against participating in “extremist action” and protests. The Kremlin attempted to suppress such in-person demonstrations by introducing a completely trustworthy online voting system to ensure Putin got all the votes he wanted.