Anti-Putin Protest Leader Loses Elections in Khimki

Key mayoral polls were dubbed “illegitimate” on Sunday by an anti-Putin protest leader seeking election in the sizeable Moscow suburb of Khimki. “I’m going to tell the world just how dirty these elections are,” raged protest leader Yevgeniya Chirikova, 35, as she left a polling station. “We are seeing a massive falsification of the vote.” The acting mayor, Oleg Shakhov, who is backed by the ruling United Russia party, blamed the allegations of vote-rigging on “dirty tricks” by “one of my rival candidates.” “All of this is a provocation,” he told journalists. “It’s all a show. They are playing a game, but they are going to lose.” According to official results, Shakhov took 48 percent of the vote, with Chirikova coming second with 21 percent.

http://en.ria.ru/politics/20121014/176625931.html
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/srok/940665-echo/ (video)
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/navalny/940725-echo/ (video)