Cries of voter fraud as Muscovites vote for mayor

Moscow - Moscow's mayor of 17 years faced charges of voter fraud in his re-election campaign Sunday as millions of Russians voted in local elections across the country.

Yury Luzhkov, 73, as the top candidate of the United Russia party, was the favourite for Moscow's mayor race. But liberal party Yabloko protested what it called 'extreme vote fraud' in a vote where opposition parties were blocked from running.

The results of the election, which will decide the 35-seat makeup of Moscow's council, or duma, are expected Monday. Moscow's annual budget totals about 24 billion euros (35.4 billion dollars), about the same as Ukraine's annual budget.

Across Russia, 30 million voters are expected to vote in 75 municipal elections. The Interfax news agency covered the votes of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. However, by midday, voter turnout was reportedly small.

For the first time, elections were held in Chechnya and some of the other restful republics of Russia's restful northern Caucasus region. However, little violence was reported there.

Security was also tight across Russia, with about 20,000 extra members of the security forces out in Moscow alone.