Putin’s United Russia Secures Constitutional Majority With 355 Parliamentary Seats

MOSCOW: (News Desk) – Russia’s ruling United Russia party has secured a commanding majority in the country’s parliamentary elections, with preliminary results showing it winning 355 of the 450 seats in the State Duma.

According to the Central Election Commission, United Russia had received 57.83% of the party-list vote after more than 95% of precinct results were counted. Its candidates were also leading in 208 of the 225 single-member constituencies.

The result gives United Russia a constitutional majority in the lower house, which requires at least 301 seats. The party’s projected 355-seat total would represent its largest faction in the history of the State Duma.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation was in second place with 13.81% of the vote, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia with 8.98% and New People with 7.96%. A Just Russia was polling just below the 5% threshold at 4.96%, according to the latest preliminary figures.

Russia’s State Duma has 450 seats. Half of the lawmakers are elected through party lists, while the remaining 225 seats are contested in single-member constituencies.

The three-day election was the first parliamentary vote in Russia since the country launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Voting took place amid the ongoing war and escalating Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory.

Russian authorities said the election proceeded despite attacks and other disruptions. Ukraine and some Western governments have disputed the legitimacy of voting held in Russian-controlled areas of Ukrainian territory.