GROZNY -- Chechens cast ballots Sunday in a virtually uncontested presidential election staged by the Kremlin and expected to endorse the rule of its favored candidate, the head of Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration, Akhmad Kadyrov.
Campaign advertising was represented by omnipresent Kadyrov posters, hanging on nearly every house in Grozny. Posters of other candidates were few and far between.
By 1 p.m. Sunday, voter turnout reached the 30 percent required to make the election valid, said Chechen election committee head Abul-Kerim Arsakhanov. By 7 p.m., an hour before polling stations closed, turnout passed 81 percent.
Most voters who cast ballots Sunday morning were retirees, pro-Moscow administration officials and residents of small communities who seemed to fear repercussions from local authorities if they failed to show up.
"If you don't go to vote, they'll notice it. And the head of our village administration has categorically ordered us not to ruin turnout figures," said Musa Aldamov, a 56-year-old tractor driver from the village of Kotar-Yurt.
Although preliminary results were not expected until Monday, Kadyrov appeared to be leading. The second most popular choice seemed to be "against all," although many Chechens expressed fear about choosing that option.
All potential strong challengers to Kadyrov have been either disqualified on technical grounds or lured away from the race. The six challengers who remained Sunday are little known in the republic.
The head of Grozny's polling station No. 382, Fatima Kovralyova, said a woman asked whether she could vote against all.
"I said, 'Do as you consider right.' As she was filling out her ballot, she heard a member of our commission advising somebody to vote for Kadyrov.
"The woman turned pale and nearly fainted. She said, 'Can I correct the ballot?' We barely managed to calm the poor thing down," Kovralyova said.
She did not comment on the clear violation of electoral law by the official who pressed the voter to pick Kadyrov.
Small groups of observers wearing badges reading "Kadyrov's campaign staff" were spotted at polling stations. They said they had not seen any violations take place.
Only a single representative of another contender was found in Grozny. The observer for Shamil Burayev, a former chief of the local administration in the Achkhoi-Martan district, was visibly nervous as she acknowledged that she had seen election irregularities. She refused to elaborate or give her name.
The Kremlin has heralded the election as a sign that peace and order are returning to Chechnya, despite the guerrilla attacks that erupt almost daily.
Russia imposed tight security measures on election day, stationing 16,000 police officers at the republic's 426 polling stations and banning trucks from all but small country roads until the voting is over, The Associated Press reported.
On the eve of the election, gunmen fired at a building housing two polling stations in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, according to the Chechen Interior Ministry. Most of the building's windows were broken in the attack.
Grozny has grown emptier in recent days, with residents fleeing the city out of fear of explosions or firefights. Even the usually crowded city market was nearly deserted Sunday.
Kadyrov, who cast his ballot in his home village of Tsentoroi, predicted he would win an outright majority, keeping the election from going into a runoff.
"The Kremlin is betting on him [Kadyrov], and that means everything possible will be done to make sure he becomes president," said Sharani Edilov, an instructor at the Grozny Oil Institute. "Besides, there are no serious challengers who are known enough by the people to become the Chechen leader."
The Kremlin has said the election would help bring stability to the republic, although critics dismiss it as a farce and say Kadyrov's victory would not appease the rebels or reconcile them with federal forces. Rebel leaders have boycotted the election, partly because most of them are in hiding and would have been arrested if they turned up to register as candidates.
Kadyrov on Sunday described fighting crime as his top priority, but he acknowledged that it would take years to end unrest.
"I would like to say that tomorrow the sun will rise from the place where it sets," he told a news conference in the courtyard of his house, AP reported. "But what will be different tomorrow is that I will be legally elected."
Both the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Moscow Helsinki human rights group and have dismissed the legality of Kadyrov's expected victory and refused to sent observers to the vote.
To promote the poll, Chechnya's boxing federation announced that every Chechen woman who gave birth to a baby boy Sunday would get 10,000 rubles (about $300), Reuters reported.
Some 30,000 federal troops stationed in Chechnya and Chechen refugees who found shelter in neighboring Ingushetia also were eligible to vote Sunday.
Campaign advertising was represented by omnipresent Kadyrov posters, hanging on nearly every house in Grozny. Posters of other candidates were few and far between.
By 1 p.m. Sunday, voter turnout reached the 30 percent required to make the election valid, said Chechen election committee head Abul-Kerim Arsakhanov. By 7 p.m., an hour before polling stations closed, turnout passed 81 percent.
Most voters who cast ballots Sunday morning were retirees, pro-Moscow administration officials and residents of small communities who seemed to fear repercussions from local authorities if they failed to show up.
"If you don't go to vote, they'll notice it. And the head of our village administration has categorically ordered us not to ruin turnout figures," said Musa Aldamov, a 56-year-old tractor driver from the village of Kotar-Yurt.
Although preliminary results were not expected until Monday, Kadyrov appeared to be leading. The second most popular choice seemed to be "against all," although many Chechens expressed fear about choosing that option.
All potential strong challengers to Kadyrov have been either disqualified on technical grounds or lured away from the race. The six challengers who remained Sunday are little known in the republic.
The head of Grozny's polling station No. 382, Fatima Kovralyova, said a woman asked whether she could vote against all.
"I said, 'Do as you consider right.' As she was filling out her ballot, she heard a member of our commission advising somebody to vote for Kadyrov.
"The woman turned pale and nearly fainted. She said, 'Can I correct the ballot?' We barely managed to calm the poor thing down," Kovralyova said.
She did not comment on the clear violation of electoral law by the official who pressed the voter to pick Kadyrov.
Small groups of observers wearing badges reading "Kadyrov's campaign staff" were spotted at polling stations. They said they had not seen any violations take place.
Only a single representative of another contender was found in Grozny. The observer for Shamil Burayev, a former chief of the local administration in the Achkhoi-Martan district, was visibly nervous as she acknowledged that she had seen election irregularities. She refused to elaborate or give her name.
The Kremlin has heralded the election as a sign that peace and order are returning to Chechnya, despite the guerrilla attacks that erupt almost daily.
Russia imposed tight security measures on election day, stationing 16,000 police officers at the republic's 426 polling stations and banning trucks from all but small country roads until the voting is over, The Associated Press reported.
On the eve of the election, gunmen fired at a building housing two polling stations in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, according to the Chechen Interior Ministry. Most of the building's windows were broken in the attack.
Grozny has grown emptier in recent days, with residents fleeing the city out of fear of explosions or firefights. Even the usually crowded city market was nearly deserted Sunday.
Kadyrov, who cast his ballot in his home village of Tsentoroi, predicted he would win an outright majority, keeping the election from going into a runoff.
"The Kremlin is betting on him [Kadyrov], and that means everything possible will be done to make sure he becomes president," said Sharani Edilov, an instructor at the Grozny Oil Institute. "Besides, there are no serious challengers who are known enough by the people to become the Chechen leader."
The Kremlin has said the election would help bring stability to the republic, although critics dismiss it as a farce and say Kadyrov's victory would not appease the rebels or reconcile them with federal forces. Rebel leaders have boycotted the election, partly because most of them are in hiding and would have been arrested if they turned up to register as candidates.
Kadyrov on Sunday described fighting crime as his top priority, but he acknowledged that it would take years to end unrest.
"I would like to say that tomorrow the sun will rise from the place where it sets," he told a news conference in the courtyard of his house, AP reported. "But what will be different tomorrow is that I will be legally elected."
Both the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Moscow Helsinki human rights group and have dismissed the legality of Kadyrov's expected victory and refused to sent observers to the vote.
To promote the poll, Chechnya's boxing federation announced that every Chechen woman who gave birth to a baby boy Sunday would get 10,000 rubles (about $300), Reuters reported.
Some 30,000 federal troops stationed in Chechnya and Chechen refugees who found shelter in neighboring Ingushetia also were eligible to vote Sunday.
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