YOUNG voters will get discounts for nightclubs. Cheap groceries will be sold at polling stations. Schools and hospitals, meanwhile, are threatening to sack workers who don't cast ballots.
Voters across Russia say they are being urged, cajoled and pressured to vote in an effort to ensure the Kremlin's candidate scores a big win in tomorrow's presidential elections.
Dmitri Medvedev, Russia's first deputy prime minister, is all but
certain to win. But authorities are still taking extraordinary steps to make sure he wins by a huge margin and with a high turn-out.
Compared to the December parliamentary campaign, which was marred by allegations of harassment and intimidation, this race has been calm, in part because there are no real opposition candidates.
It is widely viewed as a referendum on Vladimir Putin's choice of successor as president, rather than an electoral contest. The outcome is so predictable, some critics say, that many of Mr Medvedev's supporters may stay home – and a low turn-out could cast doubt on his legitimacy.
In Moscow, many teachers and doctors said their public-sector managers ordered them to vote – and told them to call to confirm they had done so.
Yelena, 45, who works at a housing office in Moscow, said her bosses demanded the right to cast ballots for both herself and her colleagues at polling stations where turn-out was expected to be low.
To do that, the managers demanded she submit a copy of her passport and her absentee ballot, which allows one to vote anywhere in Russia, Yelena said. That would be illegal because citizens must cast votes themselves.
"We were furious," said Yelena, who declined to give her last name out of fear of losing her job. "They are making sure their candidate wins, and you cannot argue with your boss."
In a small town near Vladivostok, teachers were told to call their bosses from polling stations to prove they had voted, and urge parents to vote as well.
"The authorities have long stopped trying to convince people – now it all boils down to the use of administrative pressure," said Vladislav Korolyov, a regional leader of the liberal SPS party in Krasnoyarsk.
He said local authorities had warned private firms that if they did not ensure their employees voted in big numbers, they would face a tax fine. He also alleged college students were threatened with failing grades if they did not vote.
In the central Russian town of Dzerzhinsk, authorities planned to reward young voters with flyers giving entry to discotheques. Elderly voters would be able to buy sugar, grain and canned fish at a discount at the polls.
In St Petersburg, some teachers were promised a day off if they voted, one said.
Meanwhile, numerous mobile phone operators were sending their subscribers text messages urging them to vote and noting that "your vote is important for the country".
Anna Aibasheva, spokeswoman for the phone operator Vympelcom, said the request to send out the messages had initially come from the Kremlin and the Central Election Commission. The company liked the idea and adopted it as its own. She said the government did not offer money.
Some observers say the pressure to get out the vote may be coming from regional officials who want to show their loyalty, rather than federal officials. The Kremlin, they say, may not want Mr Medvedev to surpass the turn-out of 64 per cent in the presidential contest of 2004, when Mr Putin won re-election.
Whatever the figures, the chief mystery of the election is not who will win. It is how Mr Medvedev will share power with Mr Putin, who is expected to become his prime minister.
THE CANDIDATE – SORRY, CANDIDATES – IN BRIEFDMITRY MEDVEDEV, 42
Slogan: "Forward, Russia!"
Background: A loyal protégé of Vladimir Putin and Russia's first deputy prime minister. His campaign has been helped by extensive TV coverage.
Quote: "We are not asking anyone to love Russia, but we will not allow anyone to cause harm to Russia."
GENNADY ZYUGANOV, 63
Slogan: "Zyuganov: our president"
Background: Veteran leader of the Communist Party, Russia's biggest opposition force, he appeals to voters nostalgic for Soviet rule.
Quote: "We (the Soviet Union] were a great power and we knew how to do anything."
VLADIMIR ZHIRINOVSKY, 61
Slogan: "You will answer for everything!"
Background: A nationalist with a knack for eye-catching stunts and blistering rhetoric, most directed against the West. He got into a fist-fight during a television debate.
Quote: "I alone am for the people."
ANDREI BOGDANOV, 38
Slogan: "Andrei Bogdanov: the right candidate."
Background: Bogdanov used to handle public relations for the pro-Putin United Russia party and critics say he retains links to the Kremlin.
Quote: "Democracy in Russia will be even better than in the United States."
The full article contains 813 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
