State Duma Elections in Russia: Voting Process in the Shadow of War

Voters in Russia will vote to elect 450 members of the State Duma, the lower house of the parliament, on September 18-20.

The election will be the first parliamentary election since Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The United Russia Party, backed by President Vladimir Putin, is expected to maintain its dominance in parliament within the tightly controlled political system.

Members of the State Duma are elected for five years.

Half of the 450 seats will be determined by votes on party lists across the country, and the other 225 seats will be determined by votes in single-member constituencies.

In the survey published by the state research company VTsIOM at the end of August, United Russia was clearly ahead with 37 percent, while the Communist Party ranked second with 11.6 percent.

United Russia has 310 deputies in the current Duma. The party must win at least 300 seats to maintain the qualified majority that allows it to pass constitutional amendments without needing the support of other political parties.

IS THERE A REAL OPPOSITION?

The other four political parties expected to re-enter the Duma include the Communist Party and the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia.

However, most of these parties support the Ukraine war and often move in the same direction as United Russia in critical votes.

The Russian Supreme Court prevented the liberal Yabloko, which was shown as the only registered political party in the country opposing the Ukrainian war, from participating in the elections with its party list.

Some of Yabloko's candidates continue to run in single-member constituencies, but their chances of entering parliament are considered low.

The candidacy of many opposition politicians, defined as "foreign agents", was also blocked.

Golos, the only independent election observation organization operating throughout Russia, ceased its activities in 2025 after years of official pressure.

The Moscow administration also did not invite the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to the country to monitor the elections.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights stated that this decision is a continuation of Russia's trend of not fulfilling its international obligations regarding transparency, democratic accountability and the rule of law.

The institution also pointed out that restrictions on political participation have been further increased since the last parliamentary election in 2021.

MOSCOW REJECTS CRITICISM

The Russian administration does not accept criticism of the election system.

While authorities argue that the elections were held in accordance with the law, they claim that Western countries are trying to discredit the election process in Russia and disrupt the voting.

One of the most controversial topics of the election is that the voting will be held in Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine.

In addition to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, voting will also be held in Moscow-controlled parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.

According to Russian officials, voting started earlier in some regions for security reasons.

The election is being held at a time when the economic and security effects of the war are increasingly felt within Russia.

Recently, the increase in Ukrainian UAV attacks on Russian territory, damage to the fuel infrastructure and concerns about the possibility of new mobilization have increased the war anxiety in society.

Public opinion surveys cited by Reuters reveal that the effects of the war on daily life are increasingly felt among voters and that the Kremlin will closely monitor the voter turnout rate as one of the indicators of war fatigue in the public.