MOSCOW – Most Russians intend to vote in the presidential election in March, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) said, citing a poll conducted on Jan. 11-15.
Seventy percent of respondents said they will “definitely vote,” and 11 percent said they “will most likely vote” in the election. Twelve percent of respondents said they have not yet decided if they will vote.
A total of 73.2 percent of respondents said they are ready to vote for Vladimir Putin, while 6.1 percent of the respondents said they may vote for Pavel Grudinin, another 6.1 percent said they may vote for Vladimir Zhirinovsky, 1.2 percent said they may vote for Ksenia Sobchak, 0.8 percent said they may support Grigory Yavlinsky, and 0.3 percent said they may vote for Boris Titov.
“The sudden nomination of Pavel Grudinin as the presidential candidate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation caused a surge in interest in him. Grudinin easily collected the historical electorate of the Communists, promptly overtaking such a political behemoth as Vladimir Zhirinovsky. All this became possible thanks to a broad demand for new people on the left flank […] Grudinin’s self-presentation as a ‘red director,’ a socially oriented businessman, also played a role,” VCIOM director Valery Fedotov said.
Grudinin’s rating stopped growing two weeks after his nomination, around Jan. 10-11, he said. “Having learned more about a ‘billionaire Communist’ from the media and social networks, voters began doubting if he is really a person who can be trusted. As a result, Grudinin’s rating began stagnating, he is now not ahead of Zhirinovsky, but shares second place with him,” Fyodorov said.
The nationwide poll of 5,000 Russians 18 and older, was conducted by phone on Jan. 11-15. The margin of error is 1.4 percent.
The next Russian presidential election is scheduled for March 18. Incumbent President Vladimir Putin is running. United Russia, A Just Russia, Rodina and other parties are supporting Putin in the election. The first presidential candidate to be registered was LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Pavel Grudinin, the director of the Lenin State Farm, a Communist Party candidate, has also been registered.
