The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Moscow

Russians voted Sunday in a presidential election seen by critics as rigged to hand victory to Vladimir Putin's chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev. Polls opened on the Pacific coast of the world's biggest country, before rolling 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles) west to Moscow, and finally to the Baltic territory of Kaliningrad.

Medvedev faced three challengers, but his overwhelming victory was almost a foregone conclusion following a campaign in which Russia's heavily censored television networks rammed home the message that he is Putin's heir. "You know very well that it's all sorted out in advance. It's automatic," said Anna Vasiliyevna, 50, as she cast her ballot in central Moscow.