Putin set to win another term as Russians go to polls

Russian voters, observers and eight presidential candidates are gearing up for an election that will undoubtedly hand Vladimir Putin another six-year term.

The outcome in Sunday's vote is so certain that authorities are investing in get-out-the-vote efforts to ensure a decent turnout.

More than 1,500 international observers are joining thousands of Russian observers to watch the vote. 

TRT World’s Simon McGregor-Wood reports from Moscow.

The government wants to ensure elections are clean after ballot stuffing and fraud marred the last presidential election in 2012.

Unlike the last time Putin faced voters, this time he faces no serious opposition movement, and has strengthened his domestic support through his actions in Ukraine and Syria.

Voting will start in the Russian far east near Alaska and wrap up in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.

Here is a quick look at the candidates.

Vladimir Putin

The 65-year-old Russian leader served two four-year presidential terms in 2000-2008 before shifting into the prime minister's seat due to term limits. 

Putin continued calling the shots during the next four years as his longtime associate Dmitry Medvedev served as Russia's president. Before stepping down to let Putin reclaim the top job in 2012, Medvedev initiated constitutional changes that extended the presidential term to six years.

A Putin victory on Sunday would put him on track to become Russia's longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin. The legal limit of two consecutive presidential terms means that Putin won't be able to run again in 2024, but many observers expect him to continue playing the top role in Russian politics even after that, possibly by abolishing term limits or shifting to another position of power.

Also ran?

The other seven candidates that Russian voters will have to chose are Ksenia Sobchak, a 36-year-old star TV host casts herself as a choice for those who have grown tired of Putin and his familiar challengers and want liberal changes. Then there is the 57-year-old millionaire strawberry farm director Pavel Grudinin and Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the 71-year-old leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party, who has won notoriety for his xenophobic statements. Also standing is the 65-year-old liberal economic expert Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov, and advocate for creating a more favorable business environment. Sergei Baburin, the 59-year-old legal expert who opposed the 1990 break-up of the former Soviet Union is also on the ballot paper. The Communists of Russia, a fringe group that casts itself as an alternative to the main Communist Party, are fielding the 39-year old Maxim Suraikin.