ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION<br/> <br />Voters in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostock began casting their ballots eight hours ahead of Moscow in a presidential election Vladimir Putin is widely tipped to win.<br/> <br />Vladivostock is the largest city in the Far East, with a population of 600,000.<br/> <br />Many of its residents are disillusioned by rampant corruption and a widening gap between rich and poor.<br/> <br />The Communist Party made significant gains here against Putin's United Russia in December's elections.<br/> <br />But a recent poll from the Levada Centre, Russia's largest public research firm, suggested Putin would win the presidential poll with 63-66 per cent of the vote.<br/> <br />That's far ahead of his closest rival, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, who is tipped to win 15 per cent of the vote.<br/> <br />Other contenders are Nationalist LDPR party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, A Just Russia party leader Segei Mironov, and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov who has found a following among young urban voters.
