Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively won a fifth term with record voter support in the presidential election held from Friday to Sunday. 

After the polls closed on Sunday, Putin said that Russia must be “stronger and more effective” in a speech at his election campaign headquarters at Gostiny Dvor in Moscow. 

Putin also thanked those who participated in the vote, calling them "one united family."

The exit polls by Russia’s major pollsters show Putin is expected to secure more than 87 percent of the votes cast. Putin, who has been in power for nearly a quarter of a century, is set to extend his rule for another six years.

According to Interfax, Russia’s Central Election Commission said that the voter turnout marked a record 74-point-22 percent as of 8:40 p.m. in Moscow time after the election on Sunday. The previous record was 69-point-81 percent set in the 1996 presidential election.