Original sentence: A number of SPS candidates came second in single-mandate electoral districts the party had previously held, such as Irina Khakamada in St.Despite allegations of fraud, Boris Nemtsov accepted responsibility for the election defeat and resigned as SPS leader in January 2004.However, some liberal commentators suspected foul play on the part of President Putin and his United Russia party in the counting of votes, since some exit polls and recounts conducted by opposition activists placed SPS slightly above the 5% hurdle, albiet by a small amount and with a high margin of error.Under Nemtsov's leadership SPS strongly opposed what they saw to be the authoritarian policies of President Vladimir Putin and argued that political and media freedoms in Russia had been curtailed
Edited sentence: A number of SPS candidates came second in single-mandate electoral districts, such as Irina Khakamada in St.Despite suspicions of fraud, Boris Nemtsov accepted responsibility for the election defeat and resigned as SPS leader in January 2004.However, many suspect foul play on the part of President Putin and his United Russia party in the counting of votes, since most major exit polls and recounts conducted by opposition activists placed SPS above the 5% hurdle.Under Nemtsov's leadership SPS strongly opposed the authoritarian policies of President Vladimir Putin and criticised the curtailing of political and media freedoms in Russia