BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Russians vote

BBC NEWS / IN PICTURES
Graphics Version BBC Sport Home

Sunday, 2 December 2007, 20:01 GMT

In pictures: Russians vote

Members of an electoral voting commission drive a snowmobile to villagers in the remote Siberian village of Shor-Taiga

1 of 11
Russians have been electing a new parliament, with about 109 million people eligible to vote across 11 different time zones. Siberia's voters were first to cast their ballots.

Members of an electoral voting commission use a horse to go house-to-house with ballots for villagers in the remote Siberian village of Shor-Taiga some 4000 km east of Moscow

Members of an electoral voting commission use a horse to go house-to-house with ballots for villagers in the remote Siberian village of Shor-Taiga some 4000 km east of Moscow

2 of 11
Intrepid election workers delivered ballot boxes and went house to house in the region that is some 4,000km (2,500 miles) east of Moscow.

Women voting in Moscow

3 of 11
All eyes were on the voter turnout as the election was seen as a plebiscite on the government of President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila enter a Moscow polling station

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila enter a Moscow polling station

4 of 11
Mr Putin and his wife voted in Moscow, where he called on people to vote for those they trusted.

Leaders of the Other Russia opposition movement, Garry Kasparov (L) and Eduard Limonov (R) display their ballots at a Moscow polling station.

Leaders of the Other Russia opposition movement, Garry Kasparov (L) and Eduard Limonov (R) display their ballots at a Moscow polling station.

5 of 11
Opposition leaders like Garry Kasparov drew a big cross on their ballot papers - their verdict on what they call a rigged election.

A woman dressed in local folk costume casts a ballot in the town of Krasnyi, 55km west of region capital of Smolensk, western Russia.

A woman dressed in local folk costume casts a ballot in the town of Krasnyi, 55km west of region capital of Smolensk, western Russia.

6 of 11
In a festive atmosphere, this woman put on a folk costume as she cast her vote.

Artists perform at a polling station in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia.

Artists perform at a polling station in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia.

7 of 11
At a polling station in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, musicians and artists were on hand to keep voters entertained.

Leader of the Communist party Gennady Zyuganov looks at refreshments on sale at a polling station in Moscow.

Leader of the Communist party Gennady Zyuganov looks at refreshments on sale at a polling station in Moscow.

8 of 11
And at the polling station where Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov voted, refreshments were proudly displayed - and sampled.

Election observers from Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) watch sailors voting at a polling station in Russian Far Eastern port of Vladivostok.

Election observers from Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) watch sailors voting at a polling station in Russian Far Eastern port of Vladivostok.

9 of 11
Very few international observers monitored the poll after the main body pulled out citing government obstacles.

Girls who are preparing for the Miss Russia beauty contest in Morozovka outside Moscow cast their ballots.

Girls who are preparing for the Miss Russia beauty contest in Morozovka outside Moscow cast their ballots.

10 of 11
Girls preparing for the Miss Russia beauty contest, in Morozovka, outside Moscow, cast their votes together.

A Russian girl living in Israel slides her mother's ballot for the Russian parliamentary elections into the box at a polling station based in the Russian consulate in Tel Aviv.

A Russian girl living in Israel slides her mother's ballot for the Russian parliamentary elections into the box at a polling station based in the Russian consulate in Tel Aviv.

11 of 11
Russian citizens abroad were also voting. Here in Israel, a Russian girl cast her mother's ballot paper.

E-mail this to a friend