Russia Election
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, center, casts his ballot at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 4, ...
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, center, casts his ballot at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia's vast expanse for the presidential election widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Russia Election OSCE
Head of the OSCE short-term observer mission, Tonino Picula, left, and Roberto Montella, member of the OSCE short-term observer mission, examine a po...
Head of the OSCE short-term observer mission, Tonino Picula, left, and Roberto Montella, member of the OSCE short-term observer mission, examine a polling station in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 4, 2012. (AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr)
Russia Election
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, center, and his wife Lyudmila, right, receive their ballot papers at a polling stat...
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, center, and his wife Lyudmila, right, receive their ballot papers at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia's vast expanse for the presidential election widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
APTOPIX Russia Election
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, left, talks to the media at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2...
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, left, talks to the media at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia's vast expanse for the presidential election widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Russia Election
Irina Drutushyova votes with her daughter Irina at a polling station in central Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened a...
Irina Drutushyova votes with her daughter Irina at a polling station in central Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia for the presidential elections widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin as President. (AP Photo/Harry Engels)
Russia Election
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin takes his passport at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling ...
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin takes his passport at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia's vast expanse for the presidential election widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
Russia Election OSCE
The head of the OSCE short-term observer mission, Tonino Picula examines a ballot box at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 4, 201...
The head of the OSCE short-term observer mission, Tonino Picula examines a ballot box at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 4, 2012. (AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr)
Russia Election
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev gets his ballot papers at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opene...
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev gets his ballot papers at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia's vast expanse for the presidential election widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin. (AP Photo/ Leonid Lebedev)
Russia Election
Nadezhda Viktorovna votes at a polling station in central Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia for the p...
Nadezhda Viktorovna votes at a polling station in central Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia for the presidential elections widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin as President. (AP Photo/Harry Engels)
Russia Election
Polling station officials clash with topless members of Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN members at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 201...
Polling station officials clash with topless members of Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN members at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 2012. Written on the bodies of the radically anti-Putin protesters is the slogan "I steal for Putin", referring to their symbolic act of trying to steal votes. Polling stations have opened across Russia's vast expanse for the presidential election widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
APTOPIX Russia Election
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev casts his ballot at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened acro...
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev casts his ballot at a polling station in Moscow on Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia's vast expanse for the presidential election widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin. (AP Photo/ Leonid Lebedev)
Russia Election
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, center right, talks to the media at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, M...
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, center right, talks to the media at a polling station in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia's vast expanse for the presidential election widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
APTOPIX Russia Election
An elderly Russian woman reads her ballot paper in the village of Novaya Rzhavka, Smolensk region, western Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling sta...
An elderly Russian woman reads her ballot paper in the village of Novaya Rzhavka, Smolensk region, western Russia, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Polling stations have opened across Russia for the presidential elections widely expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin as President. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Exit polls cited by state television say Vladimir Putin has won Russia's presidential election, which the opposition and independent observers say has been marred by widespread violations.
Putin tallied 59 percent of Sunday's vote, according to a nationwide exit poll conducted by the VTsIOM polling agency for Channel one television. Another exit poll done by the FOM polling agency for Rossiya TV showed Putin received 58 percent of the ballot.
Communist Party candidate Gennady Zyuganov, got support of some 18 percent, according to the survey, and the others _ nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, socialist Sergei Mironov and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov _ were in single digits.
If confirmed, claims of violations could undermine the legitimacy of Putin's victory and help fuel opposition protests.
