Putin's party claims victory in Russia's parliamentary election with nearly 58% of vote
Russia's ruling United Russia party has won a three-day parliamentary election farce with 57.9% of the vote, securing a two-thirds majority in the State Duma. Only parties loyal to the Kremlin were allowed to run.
Russia's ruling United Russia party, backed by Vladimir Putin, has won the State Duma election with 57.9% of the vote, according to results based on more than half the ballots counted. The figure was reported by the Kremlin-controlled agency Interfax, citing the election commission.
According to preliminary estimates cited by the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which also account for single-mandate constituencies, United Russia is projected to win 309 of 450 seats in the Duma. That would give the party a two-thirds majority, the threshold needed to amend the constitution.
Only Kremlin-loyal parties allowed to compete
The election, which stretched over three days, was open only to parties supporting Putin and Russia's war against Ukraine. Yabloko, Russia's only anti-war party, was barred from taking part.
Aside from United Russia, only parties already represented in the Duma secured seats: the Communist Party with 13.8%, the Liberal Democratic Party founded by the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky with 8.8%, the pseudo-liberal New People party with 7.9%, and A Just Russia with 5.1% of the vote.
According to authorities, voter turnout reached 56%, higher than in the previous Duma election in 2021.
Voting also held in occupied territories
Despite protests from Kyiv and the international community, the vote was held for the first time in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories — the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In several cases, voting there took place under the watch of armed occupying forces.
