I am not surprised by the result only that the communist vote collapsed significantly further especially in the elderly. Most old people now are more inclined to vote for Putin then the past nostalgia, especially if the communist leaders have large Swiss bank accounts against the notion of worker equality.
There was only two real leadership candidates outside of Putin, Vladimir Zhirinovsky of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia who was too rough to be palatable as a leader (but great predictor of history) and the leader from the liberal Apply Party (Yabloko) whom my wife likes, Grigory Yavlinsky (a very smart guy who knows to to play the part of a clown to get people attention to serious issues and airplay).
The US backed Oligarch stooge Ksenia Sobchak couldn't even get 2% (1.53%). Whats funny is the western media talking about the very corrupt Navalny who can't run somehow being a threat to Putin. He would have been luck to poll 2% if allowed to participate as he would have just stolen Ksenia Sobchak votes.
