Vladimir Putin Wins Third Term in Russia

 Vladimir Putin became the elected president of Russia for the third time on Sunday, but the win is causing many to question the legitimacy of his victory.

As CNN reported, the polling results from Sunday show that Putin won by over 60 percent of the vote. Many are now claiming that the percentage of votes was purposefully arranged so that he would secure the majority, but not enough to portray a landslide victory. In an ABC News article, statistics show that in 2004, Putin won by a 70 percent margin in the election.

Out of the five candidates that ran in the race this past weekend, the next highest percentage of votes went to Gennady Zuganov, who secured less than 20 percent of the ballots, reports CNN.

This comes at a time where the financially well-off and professionally working younger generation of Russia is protesting Putin for his policies and alleged corrupted behavior. However, as The Huffington Post also mentions, his political support is still high throughout the rest of the country.

“We have won an open and honest fight,” said Putin in his victory speech to cheering fans, according to CNN.

However, theories of “fraud” are swirling around in the media, and in the minds of some Russians.

Despite the use of monitoring cameras that were used to face toward the electoral ballet boxes, nearly 143 million bloggers reported corruptive behavior, claims The Huffington Post. Also from the same source, one agency known as Golos, found over three thousand possible actions of fraudulent behavior.

Putin will be returning back to the Kremlin after holding the prime minister position in Russia for the past four years, says an ABC News article. After resolving previous term conflicts, Putin can now potentially hold the title as president until 2024 if he continues to run in the future.

According to The Huffington Post, some people are concerned that their current president could keep the executive position for almost as long as Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ruled.

As CNN reports, Putin is empowered by the victory.

“We are appealing to all people to unite for our people, for our motherland, and we will win,” he said. “We’ve had a victory! Glory to Russia!”