‘Choreographed exercise’: Russia’s election result must be taken with ‘grain of salt’

Liberal Senator Dave Sharma has labelled the Russian election a “choreographed exercise” and urged people to take the results with a “grain of salt” after Vladimir Putin won with over 85 per cent of the vote. An exit poll suggests the Russian leader won 87.8 per cent of the vote. Earlier, Russians at home and abroad displayed their opposition to Mr Putin on the final day of voting in the presidential election, which will see him in power for another six years. “Any credible political opposition was eliminated before the vote, some like Alexei Navalny appear they were murdered by the Russian state security services, others were removed from the ballot,” Mr Sharma told Sky News Australia. “This was a choreographed result that the outcome was known in advance, and they dial up or dial down the turnout and voter support and everything else according to what sort of mandate they want to ensure Putin has for the next six years.”