Russians voted today in a parliamentary election likely to give President Vladimir Putin's party a big victory, but opposition figures said there was widespread fraud.
Pollsters said Mr Putin's United Russia party was expected to win a majority of up to 65 per cent of votes, a show of public support which Mr Putin hopes to use as a mandate to retain influence after his second presidential term ends next year.
Pro-Western parties are unlikely to pass the minimum 7-per cent hurdle needed to enter the next State Duma, or lower house.
Mr Putin (55) is riding high on an oil-fuelled economic boom and soaring popularity from a no-nonsense approach that has restored national pride with a big military build-up and harsh verbal attacks on the West.
He leads the United Russia party's list of election candidates but has not said what role he intends to play to keep influence after next year's presidential election.
First official results and exit polls were expected shortly after the last balloting stations closed in the western enclave of Kaliningrad at 8 pm local time (6pm Irish time).
Election officials said turnout at 96,000 polling stations would exceed 60 percent despite the sub-zero temperatures. Putin said he was in "festive mood" after voting in Moscow and told reporters voters "should only have voted for the party whose programme seems convincing."
Opposition politicians and independent monitors Golos cried foul even before the polls closed, alleging numerous instances of ballot-stuffing, pressure on voters to pick the main pro-Kremlin party and multiple voting.
In Moscow, the city election commission chairman said foreign observers had not reported any abuses. Voting was proceeding "calmly and according to schedule", said Vladimir Churov, chairman of the Central Electoral Commission.
This followed accusations - denied by the Kremlin - that skewed media coverage, intimidation of opposition parties and the liberal use of government resources to promote United Russia had made the contest one-sided even before polls opened.
"These are the dirtiest, most irresponsible elections," veteran Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said after voting in Moscow. "...they have thought up at least 15 ways to entrap and betray voters".
Former world chess champion and opposition icon Garry Kasparov denounced the election after intentionally spoiling his ballot paper at a snowbound central Moscow polling station.
"They are not just rigging the vote, they are raping the whole electoral system," Mr Kasparov told reporters. "These elections are a reminder of Soviet elections when there was no choice."
Mr Kasparov, with little popular support in Russia, called on supporters to lay flowers at the Central Electoral Commission to mark what he termed "the funeral of the Russian constitution".
The opposition's complaints were irrelevant for many of the 106 million registered voters. Russians have enjoyed an oil boom under Mr Putin that has boosted wages and living standards.
The West's main election watchdog, the ODIHR, was not monitoring the vote, creating a headache for embassies which normally rely on its judgement about election fairness.
The ODIHR pulled out after a row with Moscow over delays in issuing visas. Fewer than 300 foreign observers, half from former Soviet republics, have been accredited for the election.
Mr Putin has said the election will be "honest, as transparent as possible and open". He has told Western governments to keep their "snotty noses" out of Russia's affairs and stop trying to undermine the election. Because of the president's wish to secure a big electoral mandate, the Kremlin is keen to combat apathy and secure a high turnout.