Kremlin has Plan B for Poll Run-Off
If Putin's vote falls under 50% in the first round of voting, a run-off with Gennady Zyuganov, a perennial runner-up, will be triggered - what many allege to be part of the plan.
Zyuganov has finished second in every election except 2004 when he refused to take part. He has also failed to modernize his party as many Communist parties in Eastern Europe have.
Charles Clover of The Financial Times notes that Zyuganov's long stewardship of the Communist party exemplifies the primacy of "managed" democracy in Russia, where every four years Putin faces a hand-picked and carefully vetted field of proven losers.
Meanwhile, Sergei Obukhov, an ally of Zyuganov and Communist Party member, added: "Putin has a lock on everything. It is impossible to get TV airtime for anyone but Putin - how can you expect to win in this environment?"