According to Russia’s Central Election Commission, the ruling United Russia party won 343 of the 450 available seats in the Duma, the lower house of parliament, after 93 percent of ballots had been counted.
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The Communist Party comes second with 13.53% of the votes, and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) is in the third place with 13.28% of the votes.
But it was also the election with the lowest turnout in Russia’s history, suggesting many may have been turned off by a system in which the Kremlin wields near-total power – and which could raise questions over legitimacy.
111 million people were eligible to vote on Sunday, with 47.55 percent casting their ballots.
Allegations of fraud after the last election had sparked large-scale protests against Mr Putin in Moscow and the authorities were anxious to oversee trouble-free polls this time.
The results are likely to change as votes are counted from the western parts of Russian Federation that are more urbanized and where opposition sentiment is stronger.
Marietta Tidei, one of the heads of the observer mission, said that Pamfilova’s leadership of the election commission, which began five months ago, “has given election stakeholders confidence that the elections can be well-run, yet the low-key campaign shows an overall lack of (public) engagement”.
Massive demonstrations broke out in Moscow after the last Duma election in 2011, unsettling authorities with their size and persistence.
United Russia’s gains came at the expense of three other parties that had largely complied with the Kremlin’s wishes. “We will definitely work with those “separate” members of parliament who haven’t got the parties’ support in general, if there are one or two people who make it to parliament”.
Though the overall tally for United Russia was higher than the 49 percent it claimed in 2011, participation was low, particularly in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
“The situation is tough and hard but the people still voted for United Russia”, he said on state television.
The election result is not surprising – the controversial leader was widely expected to maintain his grip on the country. Election chiefs said were was so far no evidence of large-scale cheating.
Almost fourteen political parties have been taken part in the State Duma elections.
However, the party’s victory has been marred after a video was posted on Twitter which appears to show women stuffing ballot boxes with voting slips. “I didn’t vote for anyone: I don’t play with assholes”, he said. Half the 450 seats are being chosen that way.
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In the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, dozens of right-wing protesters gathered around the Russian Embassy, where a voting station was set up.
