Russia ends voting in regional elections

Elections are over in Russia. This year, unlike in 2021, when there was a federal campaign for elections to the State Duma, the election campaign was modest in scope. Governors were elected in direct elections in 14 regions, deputies of legislative assemblies – in six. Deputies of administrative centers were elected in 11 cities. Municipal councils were elected in Moscow.

By the evening of September 11, a significant number of protocols had already been counted for the city duma elections in the Far Eastern regions. Deputy Secretary of the United Russia General Council Sergei Perminov said that the party “is confidently winning elections in the Far East”, in particular in the city dumas of Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

By 18.30 Moscow time in the elections to the City Duma of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, United Russia gained 54% on the lists, the Liberal Democratic Party – 14%, the Communist Party – 11%, “Fair Russia” – 7%. In the elections to the Sakhalin Regional Duma, by 18.30 United Russia gained 54%, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation – 13%, the Liberal Democratic Party – 8%, the Party of Pensioners – 7% and New People – 8.5%. The voting results, taking into account the deputies elected in single-mandate districts, who influence the final balance of power in parliaments (more often in favor of the authorities), have not yet been summed up.

Gubernatorial elections, judging by the preliminary results, do not bring any surprises to the ruling party. In particular, according to the results of counting 17% of the protocols in the election of the governor of the Tomsk region, the acting head of the region, Vladimir Mazur, won 82% of the vote. In Buryatia, the current head of the region, Alexei Tsydenov, after counting 38% of the protocols, gained 85%.

But, for example, LDPR candidate Ilya Gudoshnik unexpectedly became mayor of Neryungri in Yakutia.

Since 2020, it has become possible to stretch the plebiscite in time. In 2022, the regions did not adopt a uniform approach to choosing the number of voting days. In three days, voting took place in the gubernatorial elections of nine regions, as well as in five of the six constituent entities of the Russian Federation, where deputies of legislative assemblies are elected. As a result, the turnout, compared to the last campaign in 2017, grew slightly in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, where the elections were held for two or three days, but decreased where they voted in the old fashioned way: only on September 11th.

In the Sverdlovsk region, where elections are held on the same day and the DEG is not used, the turnout at 18:00 on September 11 was 25%. In 2017, in the elections in the region, the final turnout was 37.31% (the polling stations close at 20.00). In Buryatia, where there was also one-day voting, the turnout by 18.00 was 31.93%, in 2017 it was 36%. The turnout in the election of the head of Mari El at 15.30 was 20% (in 2017, at this time, the turnout was 29.2%).

In the Kirov region, turnout at 18.00 was 31% – here the two-day voting took place on September 10 and 11. In 2017, the turnout in the elections was 30.37%. At the two-day voting in the Tomsk region, the turnout in the gubernatorial elections at 18.00 was 26.7%. In the last elections, the final turnout was 25.77%.

At the three-day voting, the highest turnout was in the Tambov region, which traditionally shows high electoral activity, at 18.00 55.51% voted there. In 2020, at the planned elections for the head of the region, which also lasted three days, the turnout was 58%. In the Ryazan region, the turnout at 18.00 was 41% – it exceeded the final turnout in 2017: 36.15%. In Udmurtia, the turnout at 18.00 was 37.48% (in 2017, the total was 34.55%). In the Yaroslavl region, the turnout was 22.54% at 15.00 (in 2017, the final turnout was 33.88%). In Karelia, the turnout at 15.00 was 23.29% (in 2017, the final turnout was 29.25%). In the Saratov region, the turnout at 18.00 was 50.29% (in 2017, the final turnout was 54.73%). In the Vladimir region, the turnout at 18.00 was 27.57% (in 2017, the final turnout was 32.94%). In the Kaliningrad region, the turnout at 15.00 is 31% (the final turnout in 2017 is 39%).

The elections were held against the backdrop of an aggravation of the foreign policy situation and increased sanctions pressure on Russia, says the head of the FORGO Konstantin Kostin: “Therefore, electoral consolidation has become the main factor that determined the outcome.” As a result, United Russia will get one of its best results, Kostin believes, and this will mean that the effect of the reduction in the electoral base after the pension reform has been overcome. He believes that opposition parties need to work with the DEG, the use of which will expand.

A decline in the results of the Communist Party is visible, says political scientist Alexander Kynev. In conditions of patriotic consolidation, power always wins, he is sure: “Therefore, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation can be called electorally the main victims – their core voted for them, and those who used to vote out of protest moods preferred to vote for other parties.” The results of the Liberal Democratic Party will be higher in those regions where local businessmen invested more in the campaign, he notes.

From a political point of view, the elections demonstrated the cohesion of society and the growth of support for the authorities, political scientist Rostislav Turovsky believes: “Judging by the first results, the solution of this problem turned out to be successful. To a large extent, this was facilitated by the fact that the parliamentary opposition did not have its own agenda, which would be interesting for the voters.” That is, the elections eventually turned into referendums on confidence in power almost everywhere, he adds.