ع
Preliminary figures released by Russia’s Central Election Commission showed United Russia claiming 57.76 percent of the party-list vote after more than 82 percent of protocols had been processed on September 21, 2026. The result positions the party to hold well over 300 seats in the 450-member State Duma when combined with single-mandate constituency wins, according to projections cited by dpa international. Communist Party candidates followed with 13.89 percent while the Liberal Democratic Party took 8.77 percent, New People received 7.97 percent and A Just Russia secured 4.99 percent, the electoral authority’s running tally indicated.
Turnout reached 56.66 percent across the three days of voting from September 18 to 20, a figure the Central Election Commission described as higher than the 51.72 percent recorded in the 2021 parliamentary contest. Bloomberg noted that the balloting marked the first national parliamentary vote since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Authorities extended the poll to territories in eastern Ukraine that Russia has annexed, a step Western governments have rejected as illegitimate.
All parties clearing the 5 percent threshold for Duma representation have consistently backed President Vladimir Putin’s policies on the Ukraine conflict, a pattern highlighted in reporting by Euronews. The anti-war Yabloko party was barred from participating after a Supreme Court ruling upheld in August 2026, according to an ElectioMap summary of official decisions. This exclusion left no federally registered force openly opposing the war on the ballot, Les Echos reported in its coverage of the restricted field.
The Central Election Commission acknowledged that the process faced cyberattacks from abroad and that Ukrainian drone strikes targeted Moscow and surrounding areas on the final day of voting. A dpa international dispatch placed United Russia on track for 309 seats, nine more than required to amend the constitution without needing support from other factions. The election occurred as the ruling party, which has dominated Russian politics for more than two decades, confronted domestic economic strains linked to the ongoing conflict.
International observers and exiled Russian opposition figures dismissed the exercise as neither free nor fair, citing the systematic sidelining of independent voices and pressure on state employees to vote, as detailed in a Bloomberg analysis. Franceinfo reported that exiled opposition activists had urged Russians to turn out at noon on the final day in a symbolic show of dissent, though its impact on official tallies remained unclear. The Central Election Commission maintained that voting proceeded smoothly despite the reported disruptions.
Deputy Commission Chairman Nikolai Bulaev told RIA Novosti that trends pointed to United Russia securing a constitutional majority, a threshold that allows passage of fundamental changes without broader consensus. The incoming Duma’s first session is scheduled no later than October 19, according to statements carried by Izvestia. Results from the Central Election Commission cannot be independently verified in full, a caveat repeated across multiple international wire reports including those from dpa international.
