Russians go to the polls

Monitored by web cameras and a network of volunteer civilian observers, Russians voted today in presidential elections expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin.

By midday in Moscow, the independent elections watchdog group had recorded more than 1,000 complaints of irregularities across the country, ranging from questionable voter registration lists to non-functioning web cameras to buses believed to be carrying so-called “carousel voters” from precinct to precinct.