Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin , second from right, gestures as he poses with Russian performer Timati, right, as they are photographed by Russian actor Mikhail Galustyan, left, during a meeting with his supporters in Moscow, Monday, March 5, 2012. The Russian Central Elections Commission says Prime Minister Putin, who was president in 2000-2008, got more than 63 percent of the nationwide vote, but the independent Russian elections watchdog Golos says incomplete reports from its observers of individual polling station counts indicate he hovered perilously close to the 50-percent mark needed for a first-round victory. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Government Press Service)