Disenchanted, resigned voters in Russia's Far East launch presidential election

By Steve Nettleton
CNN Interactive Correspondent

CNN Interactive Correspondent Steve Nettleton is traveling east across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. His dispatches from towns and cities along the way will report on what ordinary Russians beyond Moscow and St. Petersburg are thinking and feeling during this uncertain time in their nation's history.

Voter in Vladivostok considers her choices in the Russian presidential election

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (CNN) -- Russians in the Far East began voting for their country's next president on Sunday seven hours before polls opened in Moscow.

Voters took advantage of a cloudless, sunny day. More than 61 percent of the voters in Vladivostok and the surrounding Primorsky (Maritime) region cast ballots, surpassing by 2.5 percentage points the turnout here in the 1996 presidential election.

Vladivostok, 9,300 kilometers (5,766 miles) east of Moscow, is home to Russia's Pacific Fleet and the largest port on the east coast. Some 400 of the 1,600 polling stations in the territory were set up on fishing vessels, warships and cargo ships.

Outside a polling place at School 41 most of the voters with whom we talked seemed resigned that Acting President Vladimir Putin would win.

"I don't know why I voted for him [Putin]," said Ekaterina, 49. "He's young. He's quiet. He works effectively."

"Putin is the best of poor options," said another voter, Alexander. "We don't know Putin. But there is no one else I can vote for."

Vladivostok Voting Click arrow to advance pictures Russians gathered at School Number 41 in Vladivostok Sunday, to vote in the presidential election

According to local pollsters, Putin was expected to win Vladivostok easily. Despite the distance from the capital, residents of the region yearn for order and strong rule from the presidency, opinion surveys said.

"His age gives him contrast," said Igor Ilyushin, dean of the faculty of social technology at Far East University. "He could win just because he's young." Ilyushin was referring to a growing distrust of other candidates who have appeared in previous elections.

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"We've known the others for years, on television, in the media," said one voter, Natalya, 30. "But we don't see action from them. Putin was been acting president for a few months, but he's already proven he's worth our trust. He will change life for the better."

Other voters, dismissing Putin as a handpicked successor to Boris Yeltsin, put their faith in Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.

"What good did we see from Yeltsin?" asked Elizaveta, a former nanny at a local kindergarten. "Putin is Yeltsin's man."

"In the past, we lived several times better under Communism," added Yuri, 63. "We were receiving pensions and could afford to save money. Now our pensions are not enough to live [on]. They are not even enough for funerals. Let us vote for those who we lived under as human beings."

The presidential vote was not even the top draw for many voters in Sunday's election. There was more interest in the second item on the ballot: Who will represent the Primorsky region in the Duma, the lower house of parliament.

Campaign image of Vladimir Putin on stares out on a Vladivostok street

The front-runner in that race, Viktor Cherepkov, Vladivostok's former mayor, has had a long rivalry with Primorsky's governor, Yevgeny Nazdratenko.

Cherepkov was removed as mayor in 1994 after he was implicated in a bribery scandal. When Cherepkov refused to step down, he was escorted out by Nazdratenko's police.

When the bribery charges were proved to be false, Cherepkov was reinstated as mayor. But since 1998, when Cherepkov's term ended, the mayor's seat has remained empty. Each attempt to hold a new election for mayor has been postponed.

The seat in the Duma also has yet to be filled. Though it was on the ballot in December's nationwide Duma election, no clear winner emerged. More voters chose "none of the above" than they did an individual candidate.

"None of the above" also appeared to be popular in Sunday's presidential vote.

"I voted against everybody," said Nikolai, 36. "Putin is the obvious winner. There is no alternative. That's why I am opposed to all of them. It is a sign of protest."