Russia held its first round of presidential elections on June 16. There were 10 candidates running. Since no candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers, President Boris Yeltsin and Communist Gennady Zyuganov competed in a runoff held on July 3. The president serves a term of four years.
The election was an enormous undertaking. The Russian Federation stretches across 11 time zones from Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea to Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan. About 108 million people are eligible to vote, and ballots will be cast at some 95,000 polling stations.
Russia held its first-ever presidential election in June 1991. Boris Yeltsin won with 57 percent of the vote. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a candidate in the current election, finished third with 8 percent.
The Communist Party is Russia's largest political party, with 1.5 million members. In December parliamentary elections, the party gained a majority in the Duma.
The Liberal Democratic Party, led by Vladimir Zhironovsky, controls the second largest bloc in parliament, followed by the Yabloko Party led by presidential candidate Grigory Yavlinsky. The fourth largest party in parliament is Our Home is Russia, which supports Yeltsin.
Related stories:
- Presidents are powerful people in Russia - June 15, 1996
- How the Russians elect their president - June 15, 1996
- Observers say Russian media favor Yeltsin - June 13, 1996
- Russia tries to 'rock' the youth vote - May 31, 1996
- Western-style ad blitz kicks off Russian campaign season - May 16, 1996
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