By: Madeleine MacLean
United Russia, the political party backed by President Vladimir Putin, won a majority in the Russian parliamentary election. As of Monday, September 19 with 93% of votes counted, United Russia had secured 54.2% of the ballots and 343 seats out of 450. The Communist Party and nationalist LDPR both gained just over 13% of the votes and “A Just Russia” secured over 6%. All four parties are loyal to President Putin, who has had seventeen years in power as either president or prime minister. Opposition parties did not have enough votes for party-list representation. Ella Pamfilova, Central Election Commission head, reported, “To my utmost regret, not one other party managed to get over the 5% barrier.” The Yabloko party received 1.89%, and the Parnas party gained just .7%. According to NBC News, “Putin said the win showed voters still trusted the leadership despite an economic slowdown made worse by Western sanctions imposed after the Ukraine conflict.” This win will likely be used to aid the launch of Putin’s 2018 re-election campaign, though Putin has not confirmed he’s seeking another term. Putin announced at United Russia headquarters, “We can say with certainty that the party has achieved a very good result; it’s won.” However, several areas reported voting irregularities. The head of the election commission suggested that the results might be cancelled in three polling stations. In the Mordovia region of central Russia, reporters witnessed people voting and then returning later to vote again. Still, election chiefs said so far there is no evidence of large-scale cheating. Overall voter turnout was an all-time low of 47.8%, which is partly due to the belief held by many Russians that voting won’t make a difference due to corrupt elections. Despite the suspicion surrounding the voting and widespread apathy of citizens, Putin’s tone was positive as he congratulated United Russia on their victory. He stated, “We know that life is hard for people, there are lots of problems, lots of unresolved problems. Nevertheless, we have this result.”
