Makes one think we may not be as bad off here in the US... but if you think about it... scary

Woow what a high percentage won
I didnt even know uptil now
Thanks for sharing and please shed more light on the news
God bless you

What an updated post
Resteemed

If you think that's interesting, take a look at this video about how Hillary Clinton "won the California primary."

If you think that's interesting, check out this video about how Hillary Clinton "won the California primary." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5ugmNoanx8&t=447s

I think Putin’s two main political opponents were not on the ballot, one being barred (Alexei Navalny) and the other being dead (Boris Nemstov). So with or without ballot stuffing, a Putin victory was probably assured.

I spent a couple of months riding across Russia, and one of the biggest surprises was the seemingly universal support for Putin. Before leaving the UK, I’d assumed that Putin’s popularity was due to political coercion, ballot rigging, and a heavy touch of propaganda, but that’s not what I found. From West to East, Rich and Poor, the people seemed to support Putin, almost to the point of worship.

Putin is actually very popular with many Russians. Even if we had to correct the numbers by 15 points, he would still have won. 
Gerrymandering, voter inhibition, hanging chads in the US, some ballot-stuffing in Russia (by the way, how about the Russians who were prevented by the Ukraine police from voting at diplomatic facilities?) Yep, not all is as it ideally should be, however we have to stop this absurd anti-russian propaganda. Russia is a limited democracy as much as the US is a limited democracy even if the true masters are not necessarily the same. It does not behoove us to be holier-than-thou.
Putin’s popularity has to do with the way he has fostered an era of economic progress despite the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU as much as his appeal to Russian national pride. If patriotism is strong in the US, so it is in Russia. 
Yes, there is corruption à la Russian, and there is still poverty, and yes they still have a long way to go. If we were to compare the US to Russia, the US is in a stage of decadence and decline with increased poverty, whereas Russia is on the way up. So much for American “Exceptionalism. Most Americans can’t stand the thought that they are not the “leaders of the free world” and that is grounds enough to posture against Russia.

Russia bro?  Lieeekkkk, rullaaayyy?

You need to understand that in late 80s (late Soviet Union) there were elections with just 1 candidate in ballot. Nevertheless people needed to report that they **were** on those elections.

Now the story is the same. All government and semi-government workers (50% of worker-age population in country) were mobilized. In schools, from high to nursery, teachers push students and their parents to take the ballot. Of course all the mass media possible worked for that too. In every store, gas stations, bank ATMs there were election promos. All mobile phones received 2 to 5 "come to election" SMS . 
Insane. Completely insane.

So, ballot machinations were not the core of the problem. The problem is there were no alternative in the ballots and no means for many people not to come to Putin re-elections.

I really dislike the opinions stated in this video from start to finish...

First: Pat: get fucked.  Napoleon stole the French elections, are you telling me because he did that in 1800 he's doing that now?  Obviously not, for a billion reasons.

Second: speaking out against people who have favour for Lenin, a man who lived 100 years ago in Mad Max Russia?  Look dude, it's kill or be killed; literally anything goes, don't tell me you hold judgment over him for that.