A Smart Voting app devised by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been removed from Apple and Google stores on the day Russians start voting in parliamentary elections. Russian authorities had threatened to fine the two companies if they refused to drop the app, which told users who could unseat ruling party candidates. Parliamentary and local elections began on Friday and will last three days. President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party is expected to win. Although a total of 14 parties are taking part in the vote, many candidates seen as anti-Putin are barred from running, including anyone associated with Navalny’s opposition movement. Some prominent Kremlin opponents have been forced to leave Russia. Voters are electing 450 MPs for the Duma (parliament) in Moscow and a number of cities have introduced electronic voting. For the first time since 1993, election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will not be present due to “limitations” imposed by Russian authorities.(BBC)…[+]