Fraud alleged in Russian polls Opposition candidates alleged huge vote fraud and intimidation by authorities as local elections were held across Russia on Sunday. In addition to electing the usual mayors and local legislatures, the votes included the first for regional governors in eight years, part of a cautious move towards political liberalisation enacted by departing president, now prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev. But hope that this represented any more than a token political reform was erased by the heavy-handed conduct of local authorities seemingly aimed at protecting incumbent, pro-regime candidates. Golos, the election monitoring organisation, accused authorities of buying absentee ballots for 1,000 roubles apiece and stuffing ballot boxes. Russia's central election commission in turn accused foreign-funded Golos of "provocation" and seeking to discredit the elections. "These were unimaginably dirty elections, worse than any I have ever seen," said Yevgenia Chirikova, an environmentalist and mayoral candidate in the Moscow suburb of Khimki, who said she was assaulted and had her phone taken away by the head of one polling station after she tried to document violations. Exit polls showed her taking second place, although she blames the regime for hampering her campaign and on Sunday launched 50 lawsuits alleging violations by her opponents. However, some political observers pointed to the very fact of gubernatorial elections as a sign of progress, part of a cautious - and popular - move towards political reform enacted by Mr Medvedev earlier this year. "Yes, you can say a lot against how these elections are run, but they are having elections all the same, and that is progress," said Alexei Mitrofanov, a parliamentary deputy from the opposition party A Just Russia. Elections for governor were last held in 2004, after which then president Vladimir Putin abolished them following a terrorist attack on a school in Beslan in Russia's south. Mr Putin moved to appoint governors directly in what was seen as a significant rollback of political freedoms. The move by Mr Medvedev earlier this year to restore the polls highlighted a fundamental difference between him and Mr Putin. Mr Medvedev reacted to opposition protests which began last December by trying to co-opt demonstrators and make reforms, while Mr Putin, since his inauguration in May as president, has taken the opposite tack, passing a series of repressive laws in an attempt to stifle protests. Mr Putin secured a "filter" on the elections for governor, which forced candidates to collect signatures from local legislators, most of whom are beholden to the sitting governor, in order to get on the ballot. The stringent registration procedures kept most challengers with any chance of winning off the ballot, with one or two exceptions. "On the one hand, they tried to prevent the nomination of serious contenders and, on the other, they essentially helped the official opponents collect signatures," said Alexander Kynev, director of regional programmes at Information Policy Development Foundation, a Russian think-tank. In local elections, he said, the disqualification rate for independent and opposition cadidiates was among the highest ever - almost three-quarters of candidates who were nominated failed to get registered on the ballot, according to Mr Kynev. The elections take place against the backdrop of a broad drop in support for the ruling United Russia party, which looks more vulnerable now than at any point in its decade long existence. Political observers will be scouring the election results for signs of political weakness. An opinion poll by the Public Opinion Foundation, which carries out sociological research for the Kremlin, found that in September the number of Russians who distrust United Russia edged out the number who say they trust the party, at 41 to 40 per cent respectively. This also happened briefly in December following accusations of huge vote fraud in parliamentary elections. In Bryansk, in the heart of Russia's industrial "Red Belt," a communist challenger, Vadim Potomsky, has run a colourful campaign with literature featuring pictures of Stalin and Belarus" authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, both of whom are popular with the region's conservative voters. Another contest, in the heartland region of Ryazan, the incumbent United Russia governor looks vulnerable to challengers from the Communists and the nationalist Liberal Democratic party. "I wouldn't be surprised if we all wind up in court, there have been such a mass of falsifications and violations," said Vladimir Fedotkin, the Communist challenger in Ryazan, in a telephone interview.