Russia election: Vladimir Putin's party expected to secure emphatic win as polls close

Vladimir Putin's United Russia party is expected to secure an emphatic win as polls close in the country's parliamentary election.

Preliminary results from the Central Election Committee, based on just 9% of votes counted, showed that United Russia won 38.57% of the vote.

Initial results also showed the Communist Party finishing in second place with 25.17% of the vote, followed by the nationalist LDPR party with 9.6%.

Allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny had urged Russians to follow his tactical voting strategy, which amounts
to supporting the candidate most likely to defeat United Russia in a given electoral district.

The vote was marred by numerous reports of violations, including ballot-stuffing, inadequate security and pressure on election monitors.