Voting has ended in Russia’s parliamentary election and officials says early results show the ruling party in the lead. United Russia is expected to retain its majority after months of relentless crackdown on the opposition.
A woman reflected in a mirror casts her ballot during the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament and local parliament elections at a polling station in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. Sunday will be the last of three days voting for a new parliament, but there seems to be no expectation that United Russia, the party devoted to President Vladimir Putin, will lose its dominance in the State Duma.
Results from about 10% of the country’s polling stations gave the pro-Kremlin United Russia party 38% of the vote for the 225 deputies apportioned by party lists, according to the elections commission. Another 225 lawmakers will be chosen by individual races, and the elections commission said early results showed United Russia candidates leading in 130 of those single-constituency seats.
Ahead of the election, Putin expressed hope that the United Russia party would retain its dominance in the parliament, where it held 334 seats out of 450. But although the party is Putin’s power base, it is far less popular than the president himself.as Russian authorities unleashed a massive effort to suppress protests and dissent.
In recent months, authorities have unleashed a sweeping crackdown against opposition politicians and the Smart Voting strategy devised by Navalny to consolidate the protest vote against United Russia.About 50 websites run by Navalny have been blocked, including the one dedicated to Smart Voting.
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