According to the results of the processing of over 95% ballot papers in the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, «United Russia» has received approximately 57.8% of the votes. According to preliminary estimates by the Russian Central Election Commission, the party is set to control 355 of the 450 seats — enough for a constitutional majority. At the same time, the vote took place against a backdrop of restrictions on genuine political competition, reports of irregularities and the absence of an independent OSCE observer mission.
- «United Russia» is polling at around 57.8%.
- The party could win 355 out of 450 seats.
- This gives it a constitutional majority.
- The Central Electoral Commission has confirmed isolated cases of ballot paper stuffing.
- «Yabloko» has secured a seat on the Novgorod Regional Duma.
«United Russia» could win 355 seats in the State Duma
As of the morning of 21 September, with over 95% votes counted, «United Russia» had received 57,83% according to the federal list. Reuters, citing the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation, reports that the provisional allocation gives the party 355 seats out of 450.
This is more than the 300 deputies required for a constitutional majority. If this distribution holds after the final count, the faction will be larger than it was following the 2016 elections, when United Russia secured 343 seats, and in 2021, when the party won 324 seats.
At the time 95.4% of the protocols had been processed, the CPRF had received approximately 13,8%, LDPR — 8,99%, «New People» — 7,96%, whilst «Fair Russia» hovered around the electoral threshold with a result of 4,96%. Therefore, the final allocation of some of the seats may still change.
Putin’s party is tightening its grip on parliament
In 225 single-member constituencies, United Russia candidates were also in the lead in the vast majority of races. According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission, as reported by Interfax, the party was ahead in more than 200 constituencies, whilst the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, «Fair Russia», «Rodina» and independent candidates secured a significantly smaller number of seats.
Vladimir Putin Before the vote, he explicitly presented these elections as a barometer of public support for the Kremlin’s policies and the war against Ukraine. Reuters, meanwhile, described the political environment as tightly controlled: a significant number of anti-war candidates had been barred from standing, whilst the federal list of the liberal «Apples»The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has disqualified him from the election.".
The Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation itself confirmed an incident of ballot stuffing
The elections were accompanied by numerous statements about breach from political parties, observers and the independent media.
One such incident was even officially confirmed by the Russian Central Election Commission. At polling station No. 343 in Mari El, representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation used CCTV to record the casting of ballot papers by members of the polling station committee. Chair of the Central Electoral Commission Ella Pamfilova stated that the ballot box had been sealed and that the ballot papers inside were to be declared invalid.
RBC also reports that 409 invalidated ballot papers in Yakutsk after it was established that the safe in which they had been stored had been opened. In the Oryol Region, a further 250 ballot papers were declared invalid due to a damaged seal on the ballot box.
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) claimed that over a thousand of its observers had been barred from a number of regions, whilst «Fair Russia» reported more than a thousand violations recorded by its representatives. For its part, the Russian Central Election Commission stated that, following verification, a significant proportion of the complaints had not been substantiated.
Voters reported that someone had already voted on their behalf
Some media outlets and opposition sources reported instances where people arrived at polling stations only to discover that the registers already contained records of votes cast in their name. Such reports came, in particular, from regions where early or postal voting was widely used. It is not possible to independently ascertain the scale of these incidents.
During the campaign, there were also reports of administrative pressure being exerted on employees of public sector organisations and state-owned enterprises — demands that they vote on a specific day, register for postal voting, or report to their management on their participation in the election.
There is no independent assessment of the elections by the OSCE: the Russian authorities did not invite the OSCE ODIHR mission. The organisation stated that this contravenes Russia’s obligations as a State Party and deprives voters of an independent international assessment of the process.
«Yabluko» received over 5% in the Novgorod Region
The elections to the Novgorod Regional Duma produced a separate result. According to preliminary data, with over 86% of the ballot papers counted, the Liberal Party «Yabluko» received 5,67%, clearing the five per cent threshold.
The Novgorod Region was the only region where the «Yabloko» party list ultimately remained in the running in the elections to the regional parliament. At the same time, at federal level, the party’s list for the State Duma was struck off by a decision of the Supreme Court, although individual candidates from «Yabloko» continued to stand in single-member constituencies.
Ukraine does not recognise the vote in the occupied territories
Russia has also organised a vote in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that it does not recognise either the holding of such a vote or its results, emphasising that the occupation does not confer any sovereign rights on Russia over Ukrainian territories. This refers to Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as the occupied parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
