Opposition leader calls for Moscow poll recount

The Moscow Election Commission said former Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Sobyanin won just over 51 per cent of the vote while Mr Navalny took 27 per cent in second place.

If Mr Sobyanin, 55, had won less than 50 per cent, he would have faced a run-off with the charismatic 37-year-old Mr Navalny, who has risen to prominence in the past few years with his anti-corruption campaign.

“We do not recognize these elections,” Mr Navalny said. “Sobyanin can’t consider himself the mayor of all Muscovites, he can’t consider himself a lawfully elected mayor unless he agrees to our demands and allows a recount of the vote.”

Leonid Volkov, chief of Mr Navalny’s election campaign, said the key violation they are contesting is the voting-from-home totals, where the count showed what he called an abnormally high number of votes for Mr Sobyanin.

Mr Sobyanin, who was appointed Moscow’s mayor in 2010, said the city had “passed the test for free and fair elections”.

Sunday’s election was closely watched around the world amid concerns over the democratic process in Russia .