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| Last updated: 2 August 2004 |
| The 2004 Russian Presidential Election: Observations in Tatarstan |
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| Early morning on polling day (14 March 2004), and the voters of Kazan' city flock to the polls. |
| After a bit of cross-country driving (below), we end up in the village of Bolshie Kovali in the Vysokaya Gora district of Tatarstan. Here we stop for a photocall with one of the polling station officials (right). |
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| After a couple of intermediate stops, we head ever onwards to the village of Dub"yazi - where the election festivities are in full swing outside the polling station (right). |
| Inside it, we observe the ballot boxes and discuss developments with the local observers. |
| We're told that the village of Mal'yi Sulabash is 'just up the road', so we decide to continue our observations there. What isn't mentioned, mind you, is exactly what condition the road it's 'just up' is in... |
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| When we get there, we see the village's impressive monument to the Great Patriotic War (left) - even if the polling station proves harder to find (below). |
| Eventually, though, we find it, and after a bit of observation there, drive back to the south of the district, seeing this rather splendid sunset en route. Visits to the vote count and the the territorial electoral commission will follow through the night... |
| Photographs (C) Derek S. Hutcheson, 2004. |