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Putin Paid More for Victory

Vladimir Putin's election campaign spent more than 10 times as much per vote than Dmitry Medvedev's campaign did during the 2008 presidential election.

According to the Central Elections Commission, Putin spent the most of any candidate but was also the most efficient, spending about eight rubles (27 cents) per vote and using 368 million of his war chest's 411 million rubles ($14 million) to win just under 64 percent of the vote, RBK reported.

Prokhorov spent 320 million rubles, but his funds translated into only one vote for every 56 rubles spent, making his use of campaign funds the least efficient of all the candidates.

Zyuganov took second place in terms of rubles per vote, using 250 million rubles of his 262 million campaign rubles and earning one vote per 20 rubles spent.

During the 2008 election, Medvedev spent only 70 kopeks per vote, while the least-efficient spender, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, spent 22 rubles per vote.

(MT)

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