RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin pleaded with Russians yesterday to cast their votes in Sunday's general election amid fears that a poor turnout could invalidate a poll which the former KGB spy is bound to win.
Mr Putin's supporters think that the sheer predictability of his victory is sowing apathy through the electorate.
But opponents accuse his team of using dirty tricks to ensure that the necessary 50 per cent of voters go to the polls across the world's largest country.
"Each of our votes has huge significance," Mr Putin said. "Only your support can make the future president of Russia feel confident. Taking part in the elections is a unique opportunity to influence developments in your homeland."
His appeal reinforced a barrage of advertisements on state-controlled television which urged Russians to fulfil their patriotic duty by voting at the end of a campaign which opposition candidates say has been manipulated by the Kremlin and the media it dominates.
"The president has without a doubt used information, financial and administrative resources that we can't compete with," said a Communist Party candidate, Mr Nikolai Kharitonov.
He complained that Mr Putin was on television "almost constantly, every day, from morning to night, in every apartment and home."
The Communists' leader, Mr Gennady Zyuganov, who saw his party trounced in last December's parliamentary election, said that regional leaders had received orders from the Kremlin to make sure their polling booths were busy.
"What is happening is a special operation to reach a certain target, rather than a democratic election," he said. "We have learned that every governor has received orders to make sure that turnout is registered at between 70 and 75 per cent."
Mr Sergei Glazyev, a nationalist who looked like being Mr Putin's strongest challenger until his own party decided to back the incumbent, has accused the Kremlin of smearing him in the popular press and putting "illegal" pressure on voters.
From the Baltic to the Pacific, stories have filtered through to Moscow of bizarre attempts to boost Sunday's turnout.
In North Ossetia, close to Chechnya, the rector of the local university is accused of gathering his entire village for a pre-election meeting and convincing them to vote en masse for Mr Putin. The rector is also Mr Putin's campaign chief in the republic.
In Khabarovsk, mobile-phone operators are sending subscribers text-message reminders to go out and vote, while a hospital in the far-eastern city refused to admit patients who had not applied for absentee ballot papers.
In Vladivostok, on the Pacific coast, one university has shifted classes to Sunday to force students to come to school and vote in the college's polling station. The city is also holding a raffle which offers student voters a chance to win a three-day holiday to China.
In Moscow, a pop radio station is giving away 20,000 tickets to its dance festival. Only people who have voted are eligible to enter the competition.
The Russian Football League has even cancelled its fixtures for Sunday to make sure sports fans are not distracted on polling day.
Liberals have condemned the election as a sham and some have called on Russians to boycott the vote.
No one expects anyone but Mr Putin to triumph, on the back of promises to crush corruption, improve living standards and slash bureaucracy.
