Russian election: preliminary results

According to this report in The Toronto Star, Russian President Vladimir Putin has received his coveted majority in the State Duma, the lower chamber of the parliament. Putin's party, United Russia, looks set to take a dominant position in the body. To everyone's surprise, Genady Zyuganov's Communists came in third place, while the quasi-fascist Liberal Democratic Party of Vladimir Zhirinovsky was in second place. Voter turnout rates were hovering below American levels at 47.6 percent.