Updated at 6:30 a.m. ET: Reuters reports that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's ruling party lost 77 seats in parliament in an election held on Sunday, according to projections made by the Central Election Commission based on preliminary results.
Updated at 5:40 a.m. ET: European monitors said that Russia's parliamentary election has been tilted in favor of the ruling party and marred by violations, The Associated Press reports.
The monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other European institutions highlighted issues including limited political competition and a lack of fairness.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party saw its parliament majority weaken sharply in Sunday's vote despite allegations of widespread violations.
The European observers said the vote was tainted by frequent procedural violations and instances of apparent manipulations, including serious indications of ballot box stuffing.
Earlier, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov dismissed the official results as "theft on an especially grand scale." His party made big gains in Sunday's election.
However, Zyuganov told Reuters that police had barred Communist monitors from several polling stations and "some ended up in hospital with broken bones".
Updated at 4:50 a.m. ET: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia received nearly one-third fewer votes than in 2007, Reuters reported.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganovm, whose party was on target to increase its representation from 57 to 92 in the Duma, alleged that some ballot boxes were stuffed before voting began.
"The country has never seen such a dirty election," he added.
Updated at 4:40 a.m. ET: With about 96 percent of precincts counted, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia was leading with 49.5 percent of the vote, Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov told The Associated Press.
He predicted that it will get 238 of the Duma's 450 seats, a sharp drop compared to the previous vote that landed the party a two-thirds majority in the Duma. The Associated Press described the result as a "humiliating setback" for Putin, "who has steadily tightened his grip on the nation for nearly 12 years."
About 60 percent of Russia's 110 million registered voters cast ballots, down from 64 percent four years ago.
"Sunday's vote badly dented (Putin's) carefully groomed image," The AP's Vladimir Isachenkov wrote. "It reflected a strong public frustration with the lack of political competition, ubiquitous official corruption and the gap between rich and poor, which will pose a growing challenge to Putin's power."
By msnbc.com's F. Brinley Bruton -- published at 3 a.m. ET: Vladimir Putin's ruling party lost its crucial two-thirds majority in parliament in Russian elections held on Sunday, a damaging setback for the country's prime minister who is running for president once again next year. More >>
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