President Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, cast their ballots at Polling Station No 2039 located at the Russian Academy of Sciences on Leninsky Prospect. The station is equipped with the latest electronic voting system, which helps quickly process ballots.
After voting, President Putin answered journalists’ questions. He said he was confident that in the future Russia would be able to overcome the alienation of its people from the authorities that it inherited from the past. As soon as Russians recognise that their choice really matters, they will gradually become involved in and feel responsible for the future of their country.
The President said in his position it would have been unfair to draw the voters’ attention [to himself] with the help of campaign tricks. Within four years you should get to know people’s problems and try to solve them, all the results of your efforts will be seen after the election, he said.
Mr Putin respects his rivals. All of them are decent people, he said.