Putin's party sweeps in legislative elections with the result written

MoscowVladimir Putin has already achieved the popular endorsement he so desired for his war and that no one doubted he would obtain. His party, United Russia, has received 57% of the votes in the legislative elections, according to the first preliminary results. A figure higher than that of five years ago, when it scraped 50% of the votes, and which will even allow him to expand the constitutional majority, but which does not correspond with the discontent expressed by the population in recent months.

This discrepancy can be explained by the numerous reports of irregularities by opposition representatives during the three days of voting. Observers complain that members of the electoral commissions have induced citizens to opt for the opaque electronic vote, that they have not prevented public workers from being remotely directed to the polling stations en masse, and that the organizers have done nothing but put spokes in the wheels of their work.

The record turnout of 57%, spurred by the expansion of electronic voting, has exceeded that of 2021 by five points. This high turnout can be used as a demonstration of unity and support for the invasion and the army. In fact, this has been the argument that the Russian president has repeated during the campaign and that will now serve to justify any decision to escalate attacks on Ukraine or to increase the pace of recruitment. Without going any further, the United Russia candidate, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, believes that the results "confirm the course" of Putin both in terms of domestic and foreign policy.

The count places the Communist Party in second position, with 14% of the votes, below the 19% of five years ago. In third place, the anti-immigration far-right Liberal Democratic Party obtains 9% of the votes –up until now it had 8%–, ahead of the liberals of New People, with 8% –three points more than in 2021–, and the social democrats of A Just Russia, who lose one point with respect to the last elections and barely enter Parliament with 5%.

Although none of the groups represented in the Duma are against the war, some factions like the communists hoped to profit from the decline in the ruling party's ratings, following Ukrainian drone attacks, the fuel crisis, inflation, and internet restrictions. In fact, Kyiv took advantage of the start of Sunday's election day to launch the most massive bombing against Moscow since the beginning of the conflict, with more than 450 drones and, for the first time, several Flamingo missiles of Ukrainian production. The attack has killed three people, wounded twenty others, and set fire again to the Kapotnya refinery, which supplies 40% of the capital's fuel.

Allegations of foul play

The opposition laments that, once again, the authorities have resorted to foul play to manipulate the results in favor of the ruling party. When the first exit polls were known, the leader of the Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, described as "absolutely inadmissible" the practices "of the 90s" that have been seen during the elections. Observers from his party and the pacifist Yabloko have warned ARA that, as early as Friday morning, polling station staff had been persuading voters, especially the elderly, to choose electronic voting over the traditional ballot. Some people were convinced by the organizers, while others resisted due to the possibility that their vote could be falsified.

Most of the voters critical of the regime who decided to participate in the elections did so this Sunday, in person and with ballot in hand, just as the opposition leaders had recommended. If during the first two days it was electronic voting that failed punctually due to cyberattacks, coincidentally, the one that presented problems on the last day was the manual vote registration system. Those in charge of the polling stations invited voters to skip the queue and use the digital terminals, but few wanted to give up the physical vote.

Pacifist representatives assure this newspaper that they have also witnessed the so-called corporate mobilization, in the face of the passivity of the members of the electoral commission. They recount how groups of civil servants showed up at their center with the instruction to vote for a specific party and the obligation to present a photographic proof to their bosses. They claim they notified the organizers, but they overlooked it.

Disregard for opposition observers has been a constant throughout the electoral process, according to their own reports. Hundreds of them have seen their access to polling stations blocked, cases have been registered of representatives who mysteriously received summons from the military enlistment office, and, in regions like Chuvashia or Ufa, there have been attempts to offer them alcohol or bribe them in order to expel them. Others have even been victims of unjustified arrests.