The Central Election Commission announced the results of the State Duma elections

"United Russia" after processing more than 95% of the protocols receives 57.83% of the votes – this is the party's maximum result in the State Duma elections since 2007. Earlier, activists and observers reported numerous violations during the voting in the southern regions of Russia.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", during the voting days, residents of the southern regions of Russia named rising prices and tariffs, pension reform, utility problems, and the lack of candidates they would like to support as issues related to their attitude towards the elections. Thus, residents of Krasnodar Krai and North Ossetia stated that they do not perceive the elections as a way to change the situation in the country or express protest and do not expect significant political changes after them.

After processing 95.18% of the protocols, "United Russia" received 57.83%, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) – 13.81%, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) – 8.98%, and "New People" – 7.96%. "Fair Russia" with 4.96% at this moment did not overcome the five percent barrier, said the chairwoman of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, whose words were quoted today by "Interfax".

The Russian Party of Pensioners for Social Justice received 2.0%, the "Greens" – 1.15%, the "Communists of Russia" – 0.85%, "Rodina" – 0.72%, the Party of Direct Democracy – 0.35%, according to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission.

According to the preliminary distribution of mandates announced by Ella Pamfilova, "United Russia" receives 355 seats in the State Duma, CPRF – 40, LDPR – 25, "New People" – 20, "Fair Russia" – four. "Rodina" receives one mandate, and another four go to independents. The distribution may change after the final vote count.

The voter turnout reached 59.32%, Pamfilova reported. She called this figure a record for elections of this level. "These elections are unprecedented in terms of the various levels of threats that we successfully overcame," Pamfilova stated, whose words were quoted today by the Telegram channel RusNews.

The Central Election Commission plans to announce the final results of the elections on September 25. "By that time, all our commissions in the subjects of the Russian Federation will double-check everything, consider all necessary appeals," Pamfilova explained, whose words were quoted today by RIA "Novosti".

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that during the elections in the southern regions of Russia, there were reports of violations and pressure on voters. On September 21, electoral analyst Ivan Shukshin* stated that the turnout data in several regions of the North Caucasus showed signs of fabrication. In particular, he pointed to the unnatural distribution of indicators in Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Stavropol Krai, and Chechnya.

On September 20, Krasnodar activist Vitaly Cherkasov reported that identical signatures of different voters were found in the documentation at polling station No. 2014. The day before, an observer at this station reported a tenfold discrepancy between the number of records of early voters in the logs and the data submitted to the election commission. In addition, observers reported the opening of safes with ballots at two other polling stations in Krasnodar.

In Stavropol Krai, the "Yabloko" party reported on September 19 that observers at polling station No. 109 were prohibited from moving around the room, and part of the ballot boxes and booths were not visible from their designated spot. According to the party, observers also stated that the sealed safe with ballots from the first day of voting was opened at night and then resealed with a new seal.

Human rights activist Maxim Rudnev stated on September 19 about pressure on voters in Chechnya. According to him, class teachers gathered parents of students and organizedly directed them to polling stations, while before the elections, law enforcement officers conducted unofficial raids on the homes of residents registered with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, there were no reports of violations directly during the voting in Chechnya by the middle of the day on September 19.

In Dagestan, a budget sector employee complained before the voting that the management had obliged employees to support a certain party. Other surveyed residents of the republic expressed distrust towards the candidates and the election results, and some of them refused to participate in the voting as they did not see candidates they would like to support.

* included in the register of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice of Russia.

** the activities of the Meta company (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.