Electoral progress: State Duma elections have started in Russia
In the next three days, from September 18 to 20, 450 State Duma deputies, eight governors and members of parliaments of various levels will be elected in all regions. Residents of Kamchatka and Chukotka have already cast their first votes. 10 parties will compete for a seat in the lower house of the Federal Assembly — they have nominated more than 4.3 thousand candidates, including participants in the special operation. For the first time, the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, where martial law has been imposed, joined the parliamentary elections. 333 polling stations will be opened abroad. How many citizens will be able to participate in the elections and why a number of European countries prevent them from being held abroad — in the "Izvestia" article.
Who will be elected in the Russian Federation in September 2026
Three-day voting in the State Duma elections has begun in Russia. The first polling stations have opened in the Kamchatka Territory and the Chukotka Autonomous Region. From September 18 to 20, citizens in 89 regions of the Russian Federation will have to form the composition of the lower house of parliament: 225 deputies are elected on federal party lists and 225 in single-mandate electoral districts. At the same time, elections of deputies of regional legislative assemblies will be held in 39 regions, and direct elections of senior officials will be held in eight more regions.
Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation Ella Pamfilova
— I believe that the Russian electoral system and the community of election commissions are ready for the elections. I would like to once again wish all parties and candidates to achieve the success they deserve, and our country will benefit from this," said Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation.
""""""",""","","10 parties are participating in the elections to the State Duma: "United Russia", the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party, ""Fair Russia", "New People", "Homeland", the Party of Pensioners, "Communists of Russia", "Greens" and "Party of Direct Democracy". 4.3 thousand candidates applied from them, including over 180 participants of the SVO. Of these, 2.8 thousand are nominated on party lists, and another 1.6 thousand are running in single-member constituencies from parties. That is, the voters will receive two ballots at the polling stations. In one case, you will need to choose a party, and in the other, a specific candidate with a single mandate.
For the first time, residents of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions will participate in voting for deputies of the State Duma. Seven single-member districts have been formed there. Martial law has been imposed in these regions, so the authorities have provided additional security measures and special voting formats, including in the adjacent territories.
Precinct commissions will work even in the war zone — they have been formed, including from military personnel. Each commission has a person responsible for evacuation in case of provocation, fire or other emergency. One of the new practices was the delivery of ballots to hard-to-reach areas using drones.
The day before, Vladimir Putin addressed the Russians: the president said that everyone's voice would contribute to the protection of national interests. As of July 1, the number of Russian voters was 111 million. At the same time, more than 4 million submitted applications to participate in remote electronic voting (DEG). This time, online voting is being conducted in 33 regions. Before the start of the elections on September 17, encryption keys for DEG were shared in Moscow. They are distributed among several people so that no one can independently access and decrypt the results. At the end of the voting, they are combined again.
How will the elections be held abroad
Russians abroad will also have the opportunity to cast their vote. For this purpose, 333 polling stations will be opened in 152 countries. About 14,000 Russians have already voted abroad ahead of schedule, Ella Pamfilova said. There were no problems with opening land plots in friendly countries.
At the same time, in Europe and the United States, on the contrary, one of the serious challenges was the reduction of the diplomatic and consular presence of the Russian Federation. Almost three dozen Russian representative offices have been closed recently, and the number of embassy staff has decreased significantly, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier.
According to her, the authorities of a number of countries, in particular Germany, the USA, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states, refuse to open additional polling stations and prevent early and exit voting. The most striking example is the closure of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Bonn in Germany on September 15. The authorities instructed to stop the work of the diplomatic mission until September 18, that is, before the start of the elections.
"Given that it is in the western federal states of the country that most of the representatives of the Russian diaspora live, we consider Berlin's unprecedented and unprovoked decision as an attempt to complicate the free expression of our citizens as much as possible," the Russian Embassy in Germany told Izvestia.
The procedure for separating the keys of remote electronic voting within the framework of the opening of the Information Center of the Central Election Commission of Russia in Moscow
The diplomatic mission added that after repeated reminders, the German side only agreed on September 8 to hold a vote on the territory of Germany. There will be only one polling station in the country, based at the Russian Embassy in Berlin. It will be possible to vote there on a single day — September 20 from 08:00 to 20:00.
Russians living in Poland, like our citizens in Germany, were left without early and field elections. The Russian Embassy in Warsaw attributed this decision to a shortage of staff. ""The Polish authorities have gone to an unprecedented aggravation of bilateral relations" and closed the consulates General of the Russian Federation in Poznan, Krakow and Gdansk," the Russian diplomatic mission reminded Izvestia. You will be able to vote only in Warsaw. In the current situation, the Russian Federation will additionally open ten voting points on the borders with Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland — in the Leningrad, Pskov and Kaliningrad regions.
Provocations and protests may begin near the buildings of Russian diplomatic missions on election days, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned. To prevent riots, the embassy in Warsaw, for example, asked the Polish Foreign Ministry to provide enhanced security measures in the area of the diplomatic mission on election day. Similar measures will be taken in other countries.
The building of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Warsaw
By restricting the voting of Russians, a number of European countries plan to show their negative attitude towards Russian politics and elections, according to Egor Sergeev, a senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies. According to him, the European authorities understand that the votes of Russians abroad are unlikely to significantly affect the overall election result.
However, unfriendly European countries treat Russia and its citizens differently, the expert added. For example, four polling stations have been opened in France — in Paris, Strasbourg, Marseille and Villefranche-sur-Mer. The Fifth Republic, according to Egorov, takes a softer position on some of the measures discussed in the EU against Russians.
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