András Tóth-Czifra, our heroic winner.
Before the 2012 Russian Presidential elections, 23 particularly courageous (or foolhardy?) netizens and Russia watchers participated in a contest on this blog to predict its results for the chance of eternal glory and a free S/O T-Shirt.
The winner is the person with the least aggregate error, i.e. the sum of the absolute discrepancies between his or hers prediction and the official tally for each of the candidates, as well as the percentage of spoiled ballots. With 99%+ of the votes counted, it is now safe to announce the winners.
Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for… András Tóth-Czifra!
| Contestant | Aggregate Error (%) |
| Andras Toth-Czifra | 7.94 |
| Mark Sleboda | 9.84 |
| PK | 10.30 |
| Juha Savolainen | 10.54 |
| Hunter | 11.82 |
| Moscow Exile | 12.34 |
| Mark Chapman | 13.02 |
| Gladstone | 13.24 |
| AK (i.e., me) | 13.84 |
| Andy Young | 13.90 |
| Tony | 14.36 |
| donyess | 14.68 |
| FyRuPolitics | 15.23 |
| Andor | 15.90 |
| NinaIvanovna | 15.90 |
| SH | 15.90 |
| Alex Mercouris | 19.44 |
| aap | 22.48 |
| Ernst Krenkel | 25.16 |
| Carl Thomson | 27.46 |
| Alexandre Latsa | 29.54 |
| Timothy Post | 31.82 |
| Alexey Sidorenko | 39.16 |
Furthermore, not only did Andras have the best overall prediction, but he also called Putin’s result to within 0.5% points – also the best result. Hunter and Mark Sleboda were runners up.
| VVZh | GAZ | SMM | MDP | VVP | X | ∑ | |
| AK | 3.27 | 0.19 | 3.65 | 1.82 | 4.76 | 0.15 | 13.8 |
| showdown_2012 | 1.77 | 0.19 | 1.35 | 3.22 | 0.56 | 0.85 | 7.9 |
| Mark Sleboda | 2.77 | 2.19 | 2.15 | 0.82 | 1.76 | 0.15 | 9.8 |
| Alex Sidorenko | 0.77 | 8.81 | 9.15 | 4.82 | 14.76 | 0.85 | 39.2 |
| Juha Savolainen | 2.27 | 1.19 | 2.65 | 0.32 | 3.76 | 0.35 | 10.5 |
| PK | 1.67 | 1.49 | 2.25 | 0.88 | 3.66 | 0.35 | 10.3 |
| Moscow Exile | 0.17 | 0.49 | 4.15 | 3.22 | 2.46 | 1.85 | 12.3 |
| Gladstone | 5.77 | 2.19 | 0.85 | 0.82 | 2.76 | 0.85 | 13.2 |
| Hunter | 4.17 | 4.59 | 0.65 | 1.32 | 0.84 | 0.25 | 11.8 |
| Andor | 4.77 | 1.19 | 0.15 | 0.18 | 6.76 | 2.85 | 15.9 |
| Mark Chapman | 3.47 | 2.01 | 1.55 | 0.48 | 4.96 | 0.55 | 13.0 |
| Andy Young | 2.77 | 1.19 | 2.15 | 1.18 | 5.76 | 0.85 | 13.9 |
| Carl | 6.77 | 4.81 | 2.15 | 5.82 | 7.76 | 0.15 | 27.5 |
| donyess | 2.77 | 7.19 | 0.15 | 2.18 | 2.24 | 0.15 | 14.7 |
| Tony | 3.17 | 2.01 | 1.35 | 1.62 | 5.56 | 0.65 | 14.4 |
| NinaIvanovna | 1.27 | 2.19 | 4.05 | 0.68 | 5.76 | 1.95 | 15.9 |
| Ernst Krenkel | 3.77 | 3.81 | 4.15 | 1.82 | 10.76 | 0.85 | 25.2 |
| Alex Mercouris | 4.66 | 0.36 | 5.06 | 1.88 | 7.32 | 0.16 | 19.4 |
| FyRuPolitics | 3.54 | 2.83 | 0.54 | 1.47 | 6.14 | 0.71 | 15.2 |
| Alex Latsa | 5.57 | 1.69 | 7.35 | 3.82 | 9.26 | 1.85 | 29.5 |
| SH | 4.77 | 2.19 | 2.15 | 0.58 | 5.76 | 0.45 | 15.9 |
| Timothy Post | 2.77 | 0.81 | 0.15 | 12.18 | 15.76 | 0.15 | 31.8 |
| aap | 1.73 | 7.19 | 4.15 | 2.32 | 6.34 | 0.75 | 22.5 |
As for the others… Zhirinovsky’s result was best predicted by Moscow Exile; Zyuganov’s result was jointly best predicted by Andras and myself; Mironov’s result was jointly best predicted by Andor, donyess, and Timothy Post; Prokhorov’s result was best predicted by Andor, followed by Juha Savolainen and Mark Chapman; and the percentage of spoiled votes was jointly best predicted by Mark Sleboda, Carl Thomson, donyess, Timothy Post, Alex Mercouris, and myself.
