Figures from electoral commissions in Russian regions, where parliamentary elections are underway, suggest that the turnout for the first two hours was slightly lower than during the 2007 polls.
No electoral violations have been reported so far.
As of 7:00 Moscow time [4:00 GMT Saturday] the vote is underway in seven Russian time zones, which cover Far East, Siberia and Urals.
Far Eastern and several Siberian regions have already provided turnout reports for the first two hours of the vote, as of 10:00 a.m. local time.
The regions where turnout in the first two hours was lower than during the same period in the 2007 elections are the Khabarovsk Territory (4.96 percent against 7 percent in 2007), the Sakhalin Region (3.84 percent against 7.8 percent), the Primorye Territory (4.7 percent against 7 percent), the Amur Region (5.99 percent against 9.54 percent) the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (5.38 percent against 6.53 percent) and the Republic of Buryatia (4.31 percent against almost 6 percent) and the Irkutsk Region (3.19 percent against 4.79 percent).
Figures remained almost unchanged in the Chukotka Autonomous Area (22.7 percent and 23.07 percent) and the Kamchatka Territory (6.61 percent against 6.75 percent)
The Magadan Region 6.54 percent of registered voters have already cast their ballot, 1.3 percentage points higher than in 2007.
In the Transbaikal Territory the turnout was 3.88 percent, but the trend is unknown as the region was formed only on March 1, 2008.