Russian Election Monitors Cry FOUL !

In the Russian elections, Putin's party nearly swept and looks to hold over 70% of all parliamentary seats.
But, hold the phone! Election monitors are saying it's a sham. Of course, opposition parties are saying the same thing and since one block of them is the Communists, I'm not throwing things yet but the fact is, all indications prior to the elections were that Putin and the Russian executive branch were wielding tremendous influence over the elections and from this account, that held true.

Full story here.

Dec 3, 8:27 AM EST
Monitors Say Russian Vote Unfair
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW (AP) -- Foreign observers and Russian opposition groups accused authorities Monday of manipulating a sweeping parliamentary election victory for the party of President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the results as a validation of his leadership.
With ballots from nearly 98 percent of precincts counted, Putin's United Russia party was leading with 64.1 percent of the vote, the Central Election Commission said - which would give it a sweep of 70 percent of seats in parliament.
The only opposition party to make it into parliament, the Communists, trailed with just 11.6 percent of the vote, with Kremlin-allied parties claiming the rest of Sunday's vote.
The Communists, Liberals and foreign observers criticized the vote as unfair. Opposition leader Garry Kasparov, the ex-chess champion, denounced the vote Monday as "the most unfair and dirtiest in the whole history of modern Russia."

Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB officer and the chief suspect in the London poisoning death of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko last year, will serve as a deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party.
"Now Mr. Putin and Mr. Lugovoi stand together as the emblem of Russia - the two people linked by a murder," Litvinenko's widow, Marina, said in a written statement. Litvinenko in a deathbed statement accused Putin of ordering his killing - which the Kremlin has denied.