Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Russian state officials say ruling party United Russia won 58% in last weekend’s parliamentary election. Independent analysts estimate it was really 34–35% without manipulation.

meduza.io · 21h · first reportShare

Judging by the reports presented to Vladimir Putin, the recent parliamentary election must have gone very well: turnout was the highest since 2011, United Russia secured the largest State Duma faction in its history, and there were almost no irregularities. But independent analyses paint a very different picture from the one presented by the Central Election Commission: reported turnout was inflated by ballot stuffing and the authorities’ heavy use of state resources; more than half the votes recorded for United Russia appear to have been fabricated; and widespread fraud benefiting the ruling party nearly kept A Just Russia out of the State Duma, so votes had to be added to its tally at the last minute. Meduza reviewed what independent journalists and election analysts have written about the vote. The count is still underway, and experts are working with incomplete data.