[HIGHLIGHTS] The Election Farce in Russia: Putin's Elaborate Effort to Make His Re

Putin's regime is sparing neither effort nor expense in staging the presidential election. Large voter turnout is supposed to give Putin's rule the appearance of legitimacy.

The face of Putin's election farce is Ella Pamfilova, the head of the Central Election Commission. For this "election," she has at her disposal a budget of at least 33.2 billion rubles, the equivalent of around 331 million euros, almost twice as much as in the last presidential election, says DER SPIEGEL.