If president were elected this Sunday, 30% of voters would be at a loss

MOSCOW, September 23 (RIA Novosti) - If presidential elections were held this Sunday, without current President Vladimir Putin contesting, 33% of Russians would not know how to vote, a recent nationwide survey said.

The survey, conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Center, showed Sergei Shoigu, minister of emergency situations, would have the highest chances (8%) of winning, followed by Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov (6%), LDPR (Russia's ultra-nationalist party) leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky (5%), and leaders of United Russia, a pro-Kremlin party with a majority in the lower house of parliament, Boris Gryzlov (4%) and Yury Luzhkov (4%).

Aman Tuleyev, the governor of the Kemerovo region, and Valentina Matvienko, the governor of St. Petersburg, would garner 3% each along with Dmitry Rogozin, the leader of the left-of-center Rodina party. Sergei Glazyev of Rodina, leader of the liberal Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky, and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov would each win 2% of the vote. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and his predecessor Mikhail Kasyanov would each secure 1% of the vote. Former Yukos chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky would not even break 1%.

The survey, conducted September 17-18, polled 1,600 people in 153 towns and villages in 46 regions and republics of Russia. The margin of error did not exceed 3.4%.