Kremlin party ahead in Duma election: one clear winner and many allegations of fraud

As expected, the parliamentary elections in Russia show a clear victory for the Kremlin party. But there were also many votes for the communists. The election was overshadowed by allegations of manipulation.

Almost all votes have now been counted. And the Kremlin’s United Russia party is approaching the fifty percent mark. Since 195 of the total of 225 direct seats had been won, according to General Secretary Andrej Turtschak, the party successfully defended its two-thirds majority in parliament. Despite great competition, as he noted with satisfaction in the morning: “The secret of the success of our party lies in the daily work for the well-being of the people.”

No online result yet

A sentence that causes scorn and ridicule among Kremlin critics. Not only because many members of the opposition had not even been allowed to vote. But also with a view to the fact that there is still no final result of the online voting. The critics speculate that the results, especially in Moscow, did not turn out as desired.

Golos registered over 4600 violations

Both the counting and the three-day election itself were overshadowed by allegations of manipulation. The independent election observation organization Golos registered over 4,600 violations. Starting, according to the co-chairman Roman Udot, with inadequately sealed ballot boxes up to forced voting:

We saw both ballots and multiple votes. There were many problems with voting at home. So outside the polling stations and thus without control by civil activists.

For its part, the Central Election Commission recorded significantly fewer violations in the past few days. You will of course be followed up. But it was nothing, it was said, which had a serious impact on the result.

That is indeed the case, says the journalist Sergei Parchomenko, who is critical of the government, ironically: “Nothing depends on the numbers or on the composition of the State Duma, which has recently played the role of a parliament in the Russian Federation! Because the State Duma is becoming continue to do what the presidential administration orders. “

Naturally, the opposition parties represented in parliament see things differently.

Communist Party grows

The second strongest force remains the Communist Party. According to the results available so far, it has almost 20 percent of the vote. And thus increased significantly. According to political observers, the party has benefited from protest voters.

The other two established parliamentary parties, Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s LDPR and the Just Russia party, are expected to move into the Russian lower house with around seven percent.

It remains to be seen whether the “New People” party will make it into the Duma. After counting more than 90 percent of the ballot papers, it is just above the five percent threshold.