WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Russians headed to the polls Sunday to vote for regional governors and parliaments in the 83 constituencies of Russia's 18 central regions.
The 59 million eligible voters are expected to vote for mostly Kremlin-backed candidates in an election that is being criticized as having shut out liberal candidates.
Nearly half the candidates running for office are part of the United Russia party, controlled by President Vladimir Putin. Sunday's election is seen as a rehearsal for next year's national election for the lower parliamentary house that will test how Russians feel about the ruling party, reported Radio Free Europe.
"In Russia, the single day of voting has begun," the Russian central electoral commission told Press TV. "The first polling stations to open were in [the far eastern] Kamchatka and the Chukotka autonomous region."
Russia United is expected to win 67 percent of the vote nationwide, according to a recent poll, with the Communist Party coming in second with 10 percent of votes.
While Putin's approval levels remain high, a year of economic troubles in the country because of low oil prices and business sanctions coming both from the West and from Russia itself -- fallout from Russian interference with Ukraine -- have left some unsure of what citizens think of the government.
The main opposition to Putin's Russia United is the Democratic Coalition party, only been permitted to run in the Kostroma region of the country. Other opposition candidates claim they were barred from running for office.
