
While Russian President Vladimir Putin — to little surprise — easily won a fourth term on March 18, the real contest was about voter turnout. Early results show Putin collecting more than 70 percent of the vote. Though his victory was all but a foregone conclusion, this re-election was actually a mandate on how secure his hold on power is. And voters have apparently given the 65-year-old Russian leader their approval to stay in office till 2024. But this landslide win raises two large questions: What was the true voter turnout? And what's next for Russia? Going into the election, the Kremlin initially planned a 70/70 strategy for Putin: win 70 percent of the vote with 70 percent turnout. Where the former could be fairly easily secured, the second looked to be the Kremlin's largest challenge on election day.