President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party looks set for another big win in the country’s parliamentary elections, despite a drop in support. The party claimed victory a few hours after the polls closed on Sunday evening. Putin’s most vocal critics were barred from running in the election, and candidates who were allowed to stand were heavily vetted.
Another 225 lawmakers are being chosen in individual races, where early results showed United Russia’s candidates leading in 179 of those single-constituency seats. The election is widely seen as an important part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to cement his grip on power ahead of the 2024 presidential election, in which control of parliament will be key. There have been numerous allegations of ballot stuffing and forced voting. But Russia’s electoral commission rejected claims of widespread irregularities. Initial results showed that with 64% of votes counted, United Russia had won nearly 48%, followed by the Communist Party with about 21%. In the lead-up to this weekend’s vote, all of his top allies were arrested or had fled the country, with anyone associated with his groups kept from running in the parliamentary and local polls scheduled to close at 8:00 pm Sunday. The partial results show that despite Mr Putin’s party easily retaining its majority in parliament, it did lose some ground. In 2016, the party won 54% of the vote. The Communists, who broadly support Putin’s initiatives in the parliament, saw their support grow by 8%. But their leader, Gennady Zyuganov, has alleged widespread violations, including ballot-stuffing, according to the Associated Press news agency.
