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Putin secures victory in presidential election

Xinhua, March 5, 2012

Russia's presidential candidate Vladimir Putin has gained more than 64 percent of votes based on 85 percent of ballots counted so far, securing his victory in the election, official figures from the Central Election Commission ( CEC) showed Monday.

Latest official counts posted on the CEC website show that Putin has kept the leading position with 64.84 percent of votes, while none of the other four candidates have garnered more than 20 percent of votes. Some 64 percent of the 109 million eligible voters have cast their ballots.

Calculation based on the preliminary turnout indicates that even if all the rest 15 percent of ballots go to his rivals, Putin still gets enough votes to avoid a second round.

The Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov pocketed 17.02 percent of votes, while independent candidate Mikhail Prokhorov gained 7.02 percent.

About 6.31 percent of votes went to Liberal Democratic leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky and 3.73 percent for A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov.

Putin has declared victory after exit poll results showed he would win 58.3 percent of votes.

This was "a pure victory," which was gained in an "open and honest battle," he said, calling on all Russians to unite around the interests of the people and the country.

Speaking to supporters in his campaign headquarters, Putin pledged to fulfill his campaign promises.

His rivals Zhirinovsky and Mironov have called Putin congratulating him on the victory, according to media reports.

Mironov told reporters here that he believed "the election results are true", while Zhirinovsky said he had closely followed the voting process and did not notice any serious violations.

The preliminary official results of the election are expected to be announced later Monday, said the CEC.