Russians voting at embassies and consulates abroad backed the liberal New People party over Vladimir Putin's United Russia by a margin of eight to one, according to two independent exit polls conducted during this weekend's State Duma elections — the reverse of official results from inside Russia, where Putin's party took nearly 58% of the vote.
The Vote Abroad project, which surveyed almost 15,700 voters at 27 polling stations across 22 countries, put New People at 43%, the Communist Party at 18.3% and United Russia at 5.5%.
