Russians voted for a new president on Sunday in an election expected to deliver victory to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's chosen successor and another blow to Moscow's tarnished democratic image in the West, Reuters reported. Opinion polls predicted a big win for 42-year-old St Petersburg lawyer and Kremlin official Dmitry Medvedev that should ensure Putin stays on as the power behind the throne. The focus will be on the turnout because a low one could take the shine off Medvedev's victory and the Kremlin has sought to galvanise voters. Analysts say the Kremlin wants to ensure a turnout of at least 70 percent. The Kremlin's opponents say voters have been denied a real choice because the biggest television stations slanted their coverage in Medvedev's favour and election officials barred some opposition challengers from running. But Russia is enjoying a long economic boom -- fuelled by record prices for oil and gas -- and most people see the double act of Putin and Medvedev as the best hope of prolonging their new-found prosperity. Exit polls and first results are due after the last of the 96,300 polling stations close in the European enclave of Kaliningrad bordering Poland at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Sunday. Russia has 11 time zones stretching from the Far East. The last opinion polls to be published said Medvedev would win 70-80 percent of the vote, way ahead of his nearest rival, 63-year-old Communist Gennady Zyuganov, on 10-16 percent. The surveys suggested turnout would be about 70 percent, though Kremlin critics said it would be inflated by factory managers and state officials who pressure employees to vote. Most Western monitors were boycotting the election because of a dispute with Russian election officials over the number of observers allowed and the duration of their stay.
