The vote will test the strength of presidential contenders Putin, top, and Primakov

December 19, 1999
Web posted at: 4:38 a.m. EST (0938 GMT)

MOSCOW (CNN) -- More than 100 million voters across the vast expanses of Russia went to the polls to elect new lawmakers Sunday in balloting expected to gauge the strength of possible successors to President Boris Yeltsin.

The Communists are expected to win the largest bloc of votes in the State Duma, the country's 450-seat legislative body, as balloting stretched across the country's 11 time zones. The polls close at 1800 GMT Sunday.

But the battle most observers are watching is between two centrist parties -- the Fatherland-All Russia coalition, led by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and ex-Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov; and the Unity Party, backed by Vladimir Putin, Russia's current premier.

With all three men considered potential successors to the ailing Yeltsin, the showings of those two parties are seen as a test of their strength going into next year's presidential elections.

Parties rarely talked about platforms or how they would make life better in a country where the economy has been in decline for a decade, millions of workers go months without being paid and the health system, schools and other services are falling apart.

But the campaigns featured everything disillusioned Russian voters have come to expect from their legislators: grandiose rhetoric, vicious attacks and few ideas.

"I am a nobody ... but even I think it's an outrage to engage in politics this dirty," said Maria, a pensioner who did not want to give her last name.

Each party offered the same promise of tough leadership. The message appealed to some Russians, but there is widespread disillusionment with politicians and politics.

MESSAGE BOARD Russia's future

Putin's popularity has grown greatly since Russian troops moved into Chechnya to crush the breakaway republic's Islamic warlords after their summer incursions into the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan.

None of Russia's parties oppose the three-month-old war, and candidates from several parties have come to the front to campaign for the votes of soldiers serving in Chechnya.

Thanks to the popularity of the Chechen war, Putin is considered the front-runner in race to succeed Yeltsin.

Correspondents Matthew Chance and Steve Harrigan and Reuters contributed to this report.

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