Half of Putin party’s votes were fake, claim analysts

Half the votes for President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party in last week’s parliamentary elections were falsified by pro-Kremlin officials, data analysts have said. Despite a slight decline in its share of seats, United Russia received about 50 per cent of the vote, comfortably maintaining its two-thirds majority in Parliament. The result allows Putin, 68, to amend the constitution without seeking the support of other parties. The vote, from September 17-19, was marred by allegations of electoral fraud at polling stations and online. One video appeared to show a hand reaching out from behind a Russian flag to drop votes into a ballot box in Kemerovo, Siberia.