MOSCOW, March 02 , SPA -- Russians voted for a newpresident on Sunday in an election expected to deliver victoryto Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's chosen successor and anotherblow to Moscow's tarnished democratic image in the West, Reuters reported. Opinion polls predicted a big win for 42-year-old StPetersburg lawyer and Kremlin official Dmitry Medvedev thatshould ensure Putin stays on as the power behind the throne. The focus will be on the turnout because a low one couldtake the shine off Medvedev's victory and the Kremlin has soughtto galvanise voters. Analysts say the Kremlin wants to ensure aturnout of at least 70 percent. The Kremlin's opponents say voters have been denied a realchoice because the biggest television stations slanted theircoverage in Medvedev's favour and election officials barred someopposition challengers from running. But Russia is enjoying a long economic boom -- fuelled byrecord prices for oil and gas -- and most people see the doubleact of Putin and Medvedev as the best hope of prolonging theirnew-found prosperity. Exit polls and first results are due after the last of the96,300 polling stations close in the European enclave ofKaliningrad bordering Poland at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Sunday. Russia has 11 time zones stretching from the Far East. The last opinion polls to be published said Medvedev wouldwin 70-80 percent of the vote, way ahead of his nearest rival,63-year-old Communist Gennady Zyuganov, on 10-16 percent. The surveys suggested turnout would be about 70 percent,though Kremlin critics said it would be inflated by factorymanagers and state officials who pressure employees to vote. Most Western monitors were boycotting the election becauseof a dispute with Russian election officials over the number ofobservers allowed and the duration of their stay. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/532321