Voting in Russia's parliamentary election opened on Friday in the Far East and runs through Sunday, Sept. 20. Voters will fill all 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. It is the first Duma election since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and more than 111 million people are eligible to vote.
The vote comes as the war grinds on and long-range strikes continue in both directions. Ukrainian attacks have damaged Russian refining capacity, adding to pressure on fuel supplies at home, and officials have discussed rationing in some regions.
Turnout is the number to watch
United Russia, the party that backs President Vladimir Putin, is expected to keep its large majority. In 2021 it won 49.8% of the vote and took 324 seats. Because the winner is not in doubt, analysts say turnout, the size of the protest vote and reports of pressure on voters will carry more meaning than the final party totals.
Voting is spread over three days, and many people will use online ballots. Independent monitors say that format makes the count harder to follow. Turnout in the 2021 election was about 52%. Putin has presented this election as a gauge of public support for the war, and his government is managing an energy crunch, complaints about battlefield losses and public worry about another round of conscription.
An anti-war party on the ballot
Russia's Central Election Commission allowed Yabloko, an anti-war opposition party, to compete. When the decision was made in July, polling put its support near 3%, and analysts said the Kremlin judged the party a safe addition to the ballot. Its presence lets the authorities argue the race is competitive, while giving critics a legal outlet.
What comes after the vote
Results are due after polls close on Sunday. Independent monitors plan to compare official turnout against their own counts and to track how complaints are handled. Western governments are expected to question the result, while the Kremlin will point to turnout as evidence that the country stands behind the war.