Russian presidential election, 2000

Russian presidential election, 2000

26 March 2000

Turnout 68.6% 0.2 pp   Nominee Vladimir Putin Gennady Zyuganov Grigory Yavlinsky Party Independent Communist Party Yabloko Home state Saint Petersburg Oryol Oblast Lviv Oblast (now Ukraine) Popular vote 39,740,467 21,928,468 4,351,450 Percentage 53.4% 29.5% 5.9%

Constituencies won by Vladimir Putin   Constituencies won by Gennady Zyuganov   Constituencies won by Aman Tuleyev   Constituencies won by Konstantin Titov

Acting President before election Vladimir Putin Independent Elected President Vladimir Putin Independent

Presidential elections were held in Russia on 26 March 2000.^[1] Incumbent Prime Minister and acting President Vladimir Putin, who had succeeded Boris Yeltsin on his resignation on 31 December 1999, was seeking a four-year term in his own right and won the elections in the first round. Polling stations were opened from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Candidates

A total of 33 candidates were nominated; 15 submitted the application forms to the Central Electoral Committee, and ultimately 12 candidates were registered. One of them withdrew shortly before the deadline, so 11 candidates took part in the elections: Vladimir Putin, Gennady Zyuganov, Grigory Yavlinsky, Amangeldy Tuleyev, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Konstantin Titov, Ella Pamfilova, Stanislav Govorukhin, Yury Skuratov, Alexey Podberezkin, and Umar Dzhabrailov.

Campaign

Putin's campaign press service announced that he decided not to use the free radio and television time provided to all candidates and not to take part in TV debates. A number of other candidates explained this as a refusal to clarify his position on various controversial issues. However, during the campaign Putin often appeared on TV screens as a newsmaker.^[2]

Conduct

The decision to conduct the presidential elections also in Chechnya was perceived as controversial by many observers due to the military campaign and security concerns.^[3] The legislative elections held on 19 December 1999 had been suspended in Chechnya for these reasons.

The PACE observers delegation concluded that "the unequal access to television was one of the main reasons for a degree of unfairness of the campaign" and that "independent media have come under increasing pressure and that media in general, be they State-owned or private, failed to a large extent to provide impartial information about the election campaign and candidates."^[2]

The PACE delegation also reported that the media got more and more dominated by politically influential owners. The TV channel ORT launched a slanderous campaign against Yavlinsky's image as his ratings started to rise sharply, and broadcasters generally nearly ignored candidates who did not fulfil interests of their owners. One of the main independent broadcasters, NTV, was subject to increasing financial and administrative pressure during the electoral campaign.

There were also many allegedly serious forgeries reported that could affect Putin's victory in the first round.^[4][5]

Results

^a Titov was unofficially aligned with the Union of Rightist Forces.^[6]

Putin’s highest official result was in Ingushetia - 85.42%, his lowest achievement was in neighbouring Chechnya – 29.65%, Zyuganov’s results ranged from 47.41% in the Lipetsk region to 4.63% in Ingushetia, Yavlinsky’s results ranged from 18.56% in Moscow to 0.42% in Dagestan, Zhirinovsky’s results ranged from 6.13% in the Kamchatka region to 0.29% in Ingushetia.^[7]

References

Elections and referendums in Russia
Presidential elections	1991 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2018
Legislative elections	1906 1907 (Jan) 1907 (Oct) 1912 1917 1938 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1980 1985 1990 1993 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016
Gubernatorial elections	1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2012 2013 2014 2015
Regional elections	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Referendums	1991 1993 (Apr) 1993 (Dec)
See also: Elections and referendums in the Soviet Union