Time.news – The preliminary results of the legislative elections in Russia see United Russia, the party of President Vladimir Putin, in the lead but in marked decline compared to the results of 2016, while the Communist Party has almost doubled the votes compared to the previous consultations. According to projections, United Russia appears destined to win 240 of the 450 seats in the Duma. Putin would therefore have an absolute majority but would have lost 96 seats compared to the 336 he now controls, a two-thirds “super majority” that allowed him to change the Constitution on his own.
The seats in the Duma are assigned half with the proportional system and half with the uninominal system. United Russia is given 41.6% in the proportional vote and would have won 148 single-member seats out of the 225 at stake, according to current projections.
From the provisional data and the exit polls, the Communist Party appears destined to remain above 24%. The Communists were able to attract the protest vote thanks to a generational change of cadres and the campaign for the “smart vote” promoted by the network of dissident Alexei Navalny had often suggested voting for the Communist candidate as he was the one who had the most chance of beat the candidate of United Russia in single-member constituencies. The new partial data gives the Communist Party of the Russian Federation at 24.4%, the Liberal Democrats (far right) at 9.3% and Russia Just (left) at 6.86%.
Nuovo Popolo, a newly formed moderate party that attracted part of the protest vote, rises to 7.59% and therefore appears destined to become the fifth party represented in the Duma, where the threshold is 5%. It is a center-right party that has had the support of Alexei Navalny’s sympathizers.
Turnout at historic lows, 45%. In 2016 it was 47%, already the lowest level ever.
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