MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. A record number of nearly 76 mln voters cast their ballots for incumbent head of state Vladimir Putin in Russia’s presidential election, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairperson Ella Pamfilova announced.

"A total of 75,932,111 voters cast their ballots for the incumbent head of state. This is a record number. In 2018, as many as 56,426,399 people voted for Vladimir Putin, while this time, it’s almost 76 million," Pamfilova said at the CEC information center.

Pamfilova announced earlier that voter turnout in the presidential election had set a record in Russia’s modern history, reaching 77.44%.

Russia held its presidential election on March 15-17. Voting for the first time lasted over three days and incorporated online voting, which was available in about one-third of the country’s regions. According to the CEC data, incumbent head of state Vladimir Putin is in the lead with 87.32% of the vote after 99.43% of the ballots counted.