Analyst says A Just Russia was 'handed' roughly 60,000 votes on election night
During the vote count in Russia's State Duma elections, the party A Just Russia suddenly gained about 60,000 extra votes as it risked falling short of the 5% threshold. The Central Election Commission ultimately declared the party had entered the Duma.
Russian electoral analyst Stanislav Andreychuk told Carnegie Politika that around midday on September 21, A Just Russia suddenly gained roughly 60,000 votes during the counting of ballots in Russia's State Duma elections. At the time, the party was hovering right at the 5% threshold required to enter the Duma.
'It's just one phone call, the decision is made, they rewrote the number right there, and that's it,' Andreychuk said.
A suspicious spike in the numbers
Earlier, an anonymous electoral expert who spoke to the Telegram channel 'Vybory v detalyakh' ('Elections in Detail') had flagged a sharp spike in votes for A Just Russia. According to that expert, between 1:29 p.m. and 2:29 p.m., 67,330 votes were added for the party on the Central Election Commission's website. At those precincts, the party averaged 14.5% during that hour, compared with 4.5% for the Communists and 3.1% for New People. Following the spike, A Just Russia's overall total rose to 5.06%.
Official results
According to Central Election Commission data published on the evening of September 21, covering 97.37% of precincts, United Russia won the State Duma elections under the federal party-list system with 57.96% of the vote. Russia's Communist Party (KPRF) came second with 13.67%, followed by the LDPR with 8.96%, New People with 7.91%, and A Just Russia with 5.1%.
