Overwhelming support for Putin’s constitution changes a wake-up call for Westerners who claim Russian system is bound to collapse

Overwhelming support for Putin’s constitution changes a wake-up call for Westerners who claim Russian system is bound to collapse

The main takeaway from Russia’s ‘national vote’ on a series of amendments to the constitution is one a lot of people won’t want to hear: Most Russians want the country to plow its own furrow, regardless of what outsiders think. In the end, the margin was huge. Exit polls suggested around 70 percent of voters had said ‘yes’ to 206 amendments to their constitution, with close to 30 percent rejecting the changes. Official results eventually put the ‘yes’ vote at over 77 percent.