Russia21 September, 20262 min read
Ella Pamfilova Says United Russia Wins 57.83% in 9th State Duma Election, Securing Constitutional Majority
United Russia won 57.83% of votes, securing a constitutional majority in the State Duma. Election chief Ella Pamfilova announced preliminary results; 355 seats won.
55 outlets told this the same way.
United Russia wins Duma
The Russian Central Election Commission Chairperson Ella Pamfilova told a press conference in Moscow, Russia, that preliminary results showed the ruling United Russia party won 57.83 percent of the votes in the election for the 9th State Duma, the lower house of parliament. The Central Election Commission reported that the incumbents achieved 57.86% of the votes cast by party lists on September 18, 19 and 20, which would amount to around 130 seats, and they led in 208 of the 225 electoral districts, according to 20Minutos.
The election results were published by the Russian Central Election Commission and renewed United Russia’s constitutional majority with 57.86% support, according to ABC. The election was virtually devoid of opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s policies, and United Russia was dominating the country’s first wartime parliamentary election, according to ABC News.
Cyberattacks and drones
The election commission said it detected "more than a thousand" waves of attacks aimed at flooding the electronic voting system with requests, in addition to attacks targeting the "telecommunications infrastructure in Russia in general," according to Al-Jazeera Net. Ella Pamfilova said the attacks were carried out by "highly professional, well-coordinated groups using AI tools," and she pointed to attempts that carried "indicators of Ukrainian involvement," according to Al-Jazeera Net.
Russian officials said Ukraine carried out drone swarms targeting Moscow and its surrounding region on the final day of the election, killing two people and causing a fire at an oil refinery, according to Al-Anda.nt Arabic. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the attack as "unprecedented" and "clearly planned to disrupt the election," adding, "the enemy did not succeed," according to Al-Anda.nt Arabic.
Constitutional leverage and fallout
Preliminary results announced on Monday by Ella Pamfilova showed United Russia was on track to win more than three quarters of the seats in the State Duma, according to Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera reported that Ella Pamfilova said Yabloko, the only registered anti-war party in Russia, did not win any seats at the national level, after Russia’s Supreme Court removed it from the ballot last month.
The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "These indicators certainly point to the highest level of unity within the Russian society around the head of state," according to AFP. AFP reported that United Russia won a record 355 seats out of 450 in the State Duma, and the Kremlin said the sweeping victory showed that Russians were rallying around Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for 26 years.