Skip to content
International Policy News Politics

COLUMN: The results are in, but Russia is still voting for three days
Maxime Marquette

Primary Sources:

State Duma of the Russian Federation, official description of the chamber: 450 deputies elected for five years, accessed September 4, 2026

OSCE ODIHR, official list of election observation activities in Russia: last observation mission for the 2018 presidential election; a needs assessment mission for the State Duma election on September 19, 2021; accessed September 4, 2026

Golos Movement, official website: most recent election covered on September 8, 2024 (governors in 25 regions, regional assemblies in 13, Moscow City Duma), 642 reports of violations recorded on the map, including 394 during voting days; arrest of Grigori Melkoniants on August 18, 2023, under Article 284.1, “foreign agent” status

Golos Movement, notice of cessation of activities by the voter rights advocacy group and suspension of website operations, July 8, 2025

United Nations, General Assembly vote on the attempted annexation of four Ukrainian regions: 143 votes in favor, 5 against, 35 abstentions; demand for non-recognition; reference to “so-called referendums,” October 12, 2022

Russian Federal Law on the Election of Deputies to the State Duma, official summary of articles: Article 3 (electoral system), Article 44 (candidate nomination), Article 45 (signature collection), Article 80.1 (voting days), Article 82 (early voting), Article 83 (voting outside the polling place), accessed September 4, 2026

Secondary Sources:

United24 Media, Russian election campaign described as “worse than the Soviet era”: voting from September 18 to 20, 2026, 700 million rubles raised and 117 million spent by United Russia according to Verstka; 66% of Russians unaware that the election was taking place according to Levada; 32% support for United Russia according to FOM; federal debates postponed to August 31, September 3, 2026

Meduza, legal requirement for airtime for debates and absence of parties: six empty podiums in Ryazan on Russia 1, 35 seconds of silence from a Direct Democracy candidate, removal of recordings at the request of the rights holder, September 2, 2026

The Moscow Times, 79 independent candidates confirmed compared to more than 170 in 2021 and more than 300 in 2016; thresholds of 16,000 and 20,000 signatures in Ufa and Yakutsk; the cases of Mikhail Popov, Yaroslav Kostrov, and Alexei Ogloblin; remarks by Stanislav Andreychuk, July 23, 2026

Wikipedia, entry on the 2026 Russian legislative election: 225 seats allocated by proportional representation with a 5% threshold and 225 by single-member districts, with a majority of 226 required, 25 parties registered in December 2023, 14 of which were exempt from the signature requirement; candidate lists ranging from 200 to 400 candidates; 3% threshold or 3,000 signatures required for independents; accessed September 4, 2026

Wikipedia, entry on the 2021 Russian parliamentary election: official turnout of 51.72%, United Russia at 49.82% and 324 seats; voting took place over three days from September 17 to 19; 4% of votes cast electronically; estimates by Sergei Shpilkin and the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna (Vienna Center for Complexity Research); accessed September 4, 2026

Wikipedia, entry on the Russian presidential election of March 15–17, 2024: official turnout of 77.49%, 87.28% for Vladimir Putin, voting held in occupied Ukrainian territories, ODIHR did not participate due to lack of invitation, accessed September 4, 2026

This content was created with the help of AI.

facebook icon twitter icon linkedin icon
Copied!

Comments

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
More Content