UnNews:Putin denies voting irregularities; says corruption is “fairly regular now”
| Where man always bites dog | ✪ | UnNews | ✪ | Sunday, December 22, 2024, 05:17:59 (UTC) |
| Putin denies voting irregularities; says corruption is “fairly regular now” | 
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8 March 2012
MOSCOW, Russia ― After winning 64% of the popular vote, Russian Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin has denied allegations that voting irregularities occurred and has insisted that voting corruption in Russia is a normal part of the democratic process.
He also made a comparison between presidential campaigns in Russia and campaigns in the U.S by accusing the latter of committing a greater fraud, as the American system “intentionally misleads voters for an entire year prior to the election.”
This differs from the Russian system, Putin says, in that he only intentionally misleads voters after the "election."
Dmitry Medvedev, the current president, will become Prime Minister again. The former Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, will serve his third term as president for six years instead of four. The term length was changed in 2008 thanks to the Medvedev/Putin victory that year, but it did not take effect until after the most recent election. Medvedev explained to all two of Russia’s journalists that this was done to ensure that he and Putin would have enough time to extend the term length again before their next victory.
He also promised that Russians would have “new choices” in the next election, a possible Putin/Putin ticket rather than the Putin/Medvedev or Medvedev/Putin ticket they’re so fond of.
“Either way,” admitted Medvedev, “the result would be the same in the end.”