Presidential Elections or Carnival? It's All the Same to Russia's Omsk

March 18, 2018

Russians on Sunday headed to the polls to cast their votes in presidential elections. With Vladimir Putin practically guaranteed to win, the Kremlin pulled out all the stops to secure a high turnout.

Throughout the country, there were markets, large spreads of food and other festive events to lure voters to the polls. But nowhere did the carnival-like atmosphere match the Siberian city of Omsk, where 29 lucky winners were promised an iPhone for the most "creative selfie" from a polling station.

We'll leave it up to you to decide whether it was a success.

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Read more about: Elections

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