Koffein coffee houses in Moscow give a wake-up call to the political conscience of their visitors. Indeed, why wait until March if you can already cast your vote and combine pleasure with a political act? 

      Koffein offers visitors to buy a coffee drink from the menu, whereupon they can "vote" to have the cocoa sprinkled in the shape of any of 5 registered candidates. The advertising campaign that will last until March 2, when the final results are announced, has the title "Vote and Never Lose".

      The idea has proved popular among the Muscovites and journalists. According to Caffeine's Twitter, a coffee house competitor has approached them for partnership in the important task of preparing the city for the elections. Caffeine declined the offer.

      Their LiveJournal audience, however, suggested that, to be representative, similar votes should be collected from bistros and open-air kebab houses.

      Presently, Mikhail Prokhorov leads the race with 47.3%; Vladimir Putin is second with 23%, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky is third with 11.8%. This runs strongly against the data collected by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (WCIOM). According to WCIOM, on January 28, 2012 Vladimir Putin was strongly in the lead with 52% of votes, should the elections have happened that weekened. Gennady Zyuganov was second with 8%. Mikhail Prokhorov would only collect 4% of votes. A combined score of 21% describes those who would not attend the elections and who did not yet have made a choice.

      Source: Koffein-talk, Gastronom.ru, WCIOM. Image courtesy: Koffein.