Putin Concedes He May Not Win in 1st Round
Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin on Wednesday acknowledged that he may not win the presidency in the first round of voting, though he also said that a second round of voting would lead to political turbulence.
Mr. Putin’s mixed message neatly summed up what is emerging as the main intrigue of the political season: The authorities could make a push to ensure that he receives more than 50 percent of votes on March 4, thereby risking the impression that votes had been falsified to break the threshold, which could lead to rallies like those that followed December’s parliamentary elections.
Or they could accept a result short of 50 percent, and endure three unpredictable weeks that would stretch out before a runoff, which Mr. Putin would be virtually certain to win. That period could offer encouragement to protesters, as well, and send the message that Mr. Putin was returning as a relatively weak executive.
In 2008, Mr. Medvedev won in the first round, with more than 70 percent of the vote; in 2004, Mr. Putin won in the first round, with more than 70 percent; in 2000, Mr. Putin — who had recently emerged from political obscurity — won in the first round, with around 53 percent of the vote. The last president to win in a runoff was Boris N. Yeltsin in 1996.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/world/europe/putin-concedes-he-may-not-win-1st-round-of-russian-elections.html
Sounds like the polls show that Putin might be forced into a second round.
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