MOSCOW - Russians voted on Sunday in a parliamentary election expected to hand President Vladimir Putin a big personal endorsement, but opposition figures said widespread fraud undermined the vote's legitimacy.
Pollsters said Putin's United Russia party was expected to win a majority of up to 65 percent of votes, a show of public support which Putin hopes to use to establish himself as a powerful "national leader" even after he steps down next year.
Three other parties were likely to join United Russia in parliament but with dramatically smaller votes, while Putin's most vocal critics in the liberal opposition were expected to fall short of a 7 percent hurdle to enter the chamber.
Putin, 55, is riding high on an oil-fuelled economic boom and soaring popularity from a no-nonsense approach that has restored national pride with a big military build-up and harsh verbal attacks on the West.
He leads the United Russia party's list of election candidates but has not said what role he intends to play to keep influence after next year's presidential election. He said after voting he was in "festive mood."
In the Siberian village of Belovsky, local election officials brought a ballot box to the home of 94-year-old Sofia Kolesnikova because she was too frail to go out.
"My legs don't move, but my head works," she said. "Today I voted for Putin and for United Russia, because our president supports the young ... And what's more, as a man, how I like him!"
First official results and exit polls were expected shortly after the last polling stations closed in the western enclave of Kaliningrad at 8 pm local time (6:00 p.m. British time).
By 2:00 p.m. British time, turnout was 54.8 percent. Election chiefs said despite sub-zero temperatures in most of the country, the final figure would exceed 60 percent.
Analysts say the Kremlin needs turnout of at least that size to be able to present the vote as an endorsement for Putin.
FRAUD ACCUSATIONS
Opposition politicians and independent monitors Golos cried foul even before the polls closed, alleging numerous instances of electoral fraud.
