State Duma elections: pro-Putin "United Russia" receives over 57% amid reports of violations
Kyiv • UNN
After 23.39% of the protocols were counted, "United Russia" received 57.02%. Reports from the election included ballot stuffing and pressure on observers.
The three-day voting in Russia's State Duma elections has ended. According to preliminary data from Russia's Central Election Commission, United Russia is receiving 57.02% of the vote after 23.39% of the protocols had been processed. The elections took place amid reports of ballot stuffing, problems with the work of observers, and cases in which voters said that someone had already voted in their place, UNN writes.
Details
According to the preliminary results, five parties are entering the State Duma. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is receiving 13.96%, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia – 9.34%, New People – 7.98%, and A Just Russia – 5.18%. The final results are expected to be announced no earlier than September 25.
The reported turnout exceeded 56%. According to data from remote electronic voting, United Russia received 49.06%, New People – 15.42%, and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation – 12.26%. At the same time, turnout on the federal electronic voting platform, according to Russia's Ministry of Digital Development, was 90.87%.
Reports of violations
Reports of possible violations came in from a number of regions. In particular, suspected ballot stuffing was recorded in Mari El, while in Perm there were reports of a security envelope without signatures or stamps in which 100% of the votes had been cast for United Russia.
In St. Petersburg and other regions, there were reports of the detention of observers representing the Yabloko party. In Moscow, one voter said that upon arriving at the polling station, he discovered that someone had already voted in his name.
Other violations
At the same time, Ella Pamfilova, chair of Russia's Central Election Commission, reported only three attempts at ballot stuffing across the country. She also claimed that the opposition had allegedly planned to throw apples at polling stations.
In Yekaterinburg, police were called because of an apple on the table of one of the observers. According to him, law enforcement officers confiscated the fruit after the chair of the precinct commission deemed it "illegal campaigning."
These State Duma elections were the first since the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Reuters notes that a significant number of anti-war candidates were barred from participating, while the political environment in Russia remains under the authorities' tight control.