Putin’s Party Celebrates Victory in Russian Parliamentary Elections

Vladimir Putin’s party, “United Russia,” once again became the strongest party in Russia’s parliamentary elections, though it received fewer votes compared to previous times. However, allegations of fraud and manipulation have cast a shadow over this victory.

In the initial results of the parliamentary election count in Russia, the ruling party, “United Russia,” has garnered the highest votes. So far, approximately half of the votes have been counted and this party has obtained 46.1 percent of the votes.

After “United Russia,” the Communist Party with 21.4 percent is the second party to enter the Russian Duma. This party’s votes have shown a significant increase compared to the previous election.

The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) with 8 percent and “A Just Russia” party with 7.6 percent are the next parties that will enter parliament. The new “New People” party is also likely to enter the Duma. Each party must obtain at least 5 percent of votes to enter parliament, and this party has so far managed to obtain 5.9 percent of votes.

The three-day parliamentary elections in Russia ended Sunday night, September 19, with the closing of polling stations in Kaliningrad, the westernmost polling location in Russia.

“United Russia” Victory Celebration

With half of the votes counted, it has been confirmed that “United Russia” is the winner of these elections. Andrei Turchak, the party secretary, said his party deserved this victory: “Dear friends! I can offer you sincere and clean congratulations on victory. I have also spoken with our party leader, Medvedev. He asked me to thank everyone, all those who had a role in this victory; a victory that we achieved together.”

Reports of Election “Fraud”

Simultaneously with the ruling party’s victory celebration, Golos, an election monitoring organization, has reported “fraud and manipulation” in the elections. Most of these reports relate to unsealed ballot boxes, pre-filled ballots, multiple voting, and coercion of government employees to vote.

Golos deputy said Sunday night in a final report: “Citizens have called us and reported violations. In total, we have received approximately 400 reports that are classified as violations or crimes.”

Alexei Navalny, a staunch critic of Putin who has been barred from participating in the elections, also spoke of a “major electoral fraud.” His spokesman wrote on Twitter that “dealing with this matter is impossible.”

The Russian Communist Party, which is the second winning party in the elections so far, has also spoken of ballot manipulation that has resulted in a reduction of this party’s votes. This party has greatly benefited from the current discontent of the Russian people, including due to declining incomes and rising prices.

Immediately after the closure of polling stations, the leader of the Communist Party said: “This time we experienced support that we had not experienced since 1996. We must fight for our votes, and in that case we can double and triple the results.”

Source: DW