MOSCOW, April 15. /TASS/. More than half of Russians don’t think that the recent US presidential election was free, according to a poll conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center.

"More than half of Russians (55%) say that the recent US election can hardly be called truly free and democratic. As many as 12% disagree, and young people aged between 18 and 24 (21%) believe that the election was part of an open and fair political struggle," the pollster reported.

According to the survey’s results, 64% of those questioned took an interest in the November US election, while 35% said they had not followed the American presidential race.

A total of 53% of respondents didn’t think Joe Biden’s election as US president will have an impact on relations between Russia and the United States, while 12% hope for an improvement and 20% expect relations to deteriorate.

"The four-year tenure of Donald Trump, who made statements about being sympathetic to Russia but actually failed to stop bilateral relations from deteriorating, taught our fellow citizens not to trust American politicians and not to rely on them. This is why they like neither the former White House occupant nor the current one. And there is no hope for breakthroughs that will change Russia-US relations for the better," the center’s Director General Valery Fedorov said, commenting on the survey’s outcome.

The United States held its presidential election on November 3, 2020. The Electoral College confirmed Democratic candidate Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential race on December 14, 2020. His inauguration ceremony took place on January 20, 2021. Former US President Donald Trump put up a legal struggle to fight for a slew of vote recounts in a number of states but his lawsuits were rejected by the courts.

The nationwide poll involving 1,600 respondents over 18 years of age was conducted on January 27, 2021. The margin of error does not exceed 2.5% at the 95% confidence level.