Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged Russians to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections after a lacklustre campaign season, writes Euronews.

Polls opened on Friday morning for the three-day election and the first day of the vote was marred by controversy with allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny accusing Google and Apple of removing their “smart voting” app from their platforms.

Putin’s United Russia party is expected to comfortably hold its dominance over the State Duma, where it currently holds a two-thirds majority.

After months of official moves to shut down any significant opposition, there are official concerns that low turnout could damage the ruling party’s prestige.