Thousands protest Putin over Russia elections

Police officers detain an opposition activist in St.Petersburg, Russia on Dec. 5, 2011. / AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky

MOSCOW - Several thousand people have protested in Moscow against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party, which won the largest share of a parliamentary election that observers said was rigged.

It was perhaps the largest opposition rally in years and ended with police detaining some of the activists.

A group of several hundred then marched toward the Central Elections Commission near the Kremlin, but were stopped by riot police and taken away in buses.

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Estimates of the number of protesters Monday night ranged from 5,000 to 10,000. They chanted "Russia without Putin."

Putin's United Russia party took about 50 percent of Sunday's vote, a result that opposition politicians and election monitors said was inflated because of ballot stuffing and other vote fraud.

Communist chief Gennady Zyuganov said his party monitors stopped a ballot box-stuffing attempt at a Moscow polling station where they found 300 ballots already in the box before the start of the vote. He also said there were several other incidents of ballot-stuffing reported in other areas. People posing as Communist monitors had shown up at Krasnodar polling stations and the real observers from the party weren't allowed in, Zyuganov added.

Exit poll results also showed that Putin's party was having a hard time getting 50 percent of the vote. Opponents claimed that even that number was inflated.

Earlier Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the United States had "serious concerns" about the veracity of the elections. She spoke in Bonn, Germany, adding that the international community has echoed the U.S. concerns and believes there may have been possible ballot-stuffing, manipulation of voter lists "and other troubling practices." She also added that there were several reports of Russian election monitors being harassed, including through attacks on their web sites.

[rbmcbs11743]

What we are seeing here is an exploitation of power of those already in power. "WHAT ARE THEY IN POWER FOR?" as the saying goes.

Mr. Putin has been in power for a considerably long time now. What is he in power for if he cannot have the votes needed to stay in power? He has the power to win the election.

But what Mr. Putin overlooks and does not foresee is the current trend of mass uprisings against those who intend to stay in power forever.

If Mr. Putin has already considered the consequences of using power to stay in power, he probably has the capability and preparedness to face and confront any consequences. Apparently Mr. Putin is not wary of any consequences from the Russian masses.

[Jesus_Loves_Children]

Ballots Roasting on an Open Fire

At this time of year Americans stuff their turkeys while Russians stuff their ballots...

[Anotheryahoo]

Its the same old story, power corrupts every single time everywhere. Its why the framers of our Constitution worked so hard to protect us the people from those in power.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

These protesters are brave, but I am afraid of what will happen to them in police custody over there.... The U.S.S.R. is back from the dead, folks.

[Shureeq]

I'm Russian and I must say that in most cases our police officers don't like Putin's governance, it's true, believe it or not. So the protesters will be released. I have a strange premonition that our "beloved" government performs its best to foment a revolution...