How were the State Duma elections in Russia? Main events and preliminary results

Elections of deputies of the ninth convocation of the State Duma were held in Russia from September 18 to 20. According to preliminary data from the CEC, the turnout was 59.32% — more than 62.6 million people took part in the voting.

Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy, Cheburashka, Crocodile Gene, a man in the form of a horse in a coat and voters with animals came to the polls. At the same time, the authorities reported cyber attacks and damage to the electoral infrastructure. How the voting took place, how the three days at the polling stations were remembered, and how the elections were reacted to in Russia and abroad — in the "Izvestia" article.

What preliminary results did the elections show?

The elections to the State Duma were held according to a mixed system: half of the 450 deputies were elected on party lists, and another 225 were elected in single—mandate districts. The voting was organized over three days — on September 18, 19 and 20.

According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission on September 21, after processing more than 97% of the protocols, "United Russia" received 57.83% of the votes on party lists and led in 208 single-member districts. Previously, the party claimed 355 of the 450 seats in the lower house of parliament.

""The Communist Party of the Russian Federation gained about 13.67%, the Liberal Democratic Party — 8.96%, "New People" — 7.91%. "Fair Russia" — 5.1%. The CEC plans to summarize the final results on September 25.

The turnout was 59.32%. This is higher than in the parliamentary elections of 2021, when it was 51.72%. More than 3.65 million people registered to participate in the DEG cast their votes through the federal remote electronic voting system.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also voted remotely. He filled out the electronic newsletter on September 18 from his office in the Kremlin. First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and the governors also voted.

Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy and Kolobok came to the polls

One of the notable episodes of the first day of voting was a family from Tyumen who went to the polling station dressed as comic book characters.

The parents appeared as Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy, and the family took the baby and a soft Bun with them. The participants of the unusual action explained that they decided to cheer themselves and others up in this way, and at the same time show the child that participation in elections is part of adulthood.

"We make our own decisions and we want the child to see it too.: you need to treat your choice consciously and responsibly," said the Tyumen woman.

And Spider-Man wasn't the only one in this election. Footage of a man in the same suit in another area was distributed on social networks, and the same video was mistakenly attributed to several Russian cities at once.

A horse in a coat Cheburashka and other unusual guests of the plots

In the LPR, they decided to translate the phraseology "horse in a coat" literally. A man in a horse costume appeared at one of the polling stations, over which he was wearing a long coat. An unusual voter with documents went to the place of voting.

Cheburashka, Gena the Crocodile and a Bear came to the plot No. 91 in Bronnitsy near Moscow. There were animators in costumes who communicated with voters, took pictures with children and entertained visitors to the polling station. A voter dressed as an astronaut appeared at another polling station, and a girl dressed as an elf came to vote in Moscow.

Animals became a separate category of election participants. In Moscow, one voter came to the polling station with a cat on his shoulder. In Sochi, a circus elephant named Margot appeared near the polling station, and in Kalmykia, the owners of the "Camel Island" farm rode camels to vote.

A 121-year-old Russian woman voted in the election.

A 121-year-old resident of Chechnya, Yakha Khashagova, also became an unusual participant in the voting. She voted at home — representatives of the precinct commission came to her, accompanied by medical workers.

Khashagova was born in 1905. After the vote, the doctors examined the woman. According to the department of the Social Fund for the Chechen Republic, the centenarian has 20 grandchildren and 48 great-grandchildren.

Also in Volgograd, 101-year-old Alexandra Mashkova, a participant in the Battle of Stalingrad, had a vote organized at home. Valentina Babayeva from Krasnoyarsk, who has worked in a maternity hospital for many years, also cast her vote in the same way. She graduated from nursing courses, and then entered the Irkutsk medical School.

What difficulties did you face during the voting?

The elections were held against the background of attacks on the electoral and telecommunications infrastructure. On the first day, Olga Kirillova, chairman of the Moscow City Election Commission, reported serious attacks on the Moscow electronic voting system.

Main communication lines were damaged in the Far East. CEC Chairman Ella Pamfilova described the incident as targeted sabotage and an attempt to influence the conduct of the vote. The connection was later restored.

Due to the danger of drone attacks, the work of some polling stations was temporarily suspended, in particular in Sochi. The CEC also reported damage or destruction of 74 buildings housing territorial and precinct commissions in ten regions. Some of the commissions were transferred to reserve premises.

At the end of the voting, Pamfilova called the campaign the most difficult and difficult in her political career. At the same time, according to her assessment, the elections were held calmly and with dignity.

More than 336,000 observers worked at the polling stations. ""According to the CEC, on September 21, 15 observers were removed from the elections by court decisions: six from the Communist Party, five from "Yabloko", two from "Fair Russia" and one each from the Liberal Democratic Party and another party.

What did Russia say after the election?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on the evening of September 20 that attempts to interfere in the electoral process and the desire to present the elections as unfree and undemocratic, in his assessment, had been exposed.

"These elections have more than ever many external factors, direct attempts to interfere in the course of the elections, to present them as unfree, undemocratic. All these attempts have been exposed," the minister said.

Federation Council Chairman Valentina Matvienko also stated that, in her opinion, attempts from the outside to split Russian society through elections had failed. She linked the results of the vote to support for the course of President Vladimir Putin. Prior to this, Matvienko noted that Moscow was not interested in the opinion of Western countries about the elections taking place in Russia, while it was important for Russians themselves to realize the responsibility of the moment.

Your choice: how was EDG-2026 and who tried to prevent the voting?

Waves of cyber attacks from abroad and threats to election commission members failed to affect the process of expressing the will of Russians

How did people react to the elections abroad

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulated Vladimir Putin on the election and called the vote an important socio-political event in Russia. According to him, the results indicate broad support for the strategic course of the Russian president.

China also officially congratulated Russia. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on September 21 that Beijing congratulates the country on the completion of the elections and believes that their results reflect the will of the Russian people.

Despite this, the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, said that the European Union (EU) is preparing sanctions in response to the elections of State Duma deputies that took place in new regions of Russia. It is noted that sanctions threaten both those involved in organizing the elections and those who put forward their candidacies.

When will the final results be announced

Despite the completion of the voting itself on the evening of September 20, the data published on September 21 is not yet final. The counting and procedures stipulated by the electoral legislation are continuing.

The CEC plans to officially summarize the election results on September 25. Up to this point, the party's performance and the final distribution of 450 deputy mandates can be adjusted.