United Russia saw success in the 2023 regional elections as the basis for a presidential victory in 2024

The victory of United Russia (UR) in the past regional and municipal elections became “a good foundation for next year,” when “the main elections of our country” will take place. This was stated on Thursday by participants in a joint meeting of the Supreme Council and the Presidium of the United Russia General Council, setting the party members the task of “ensuring the president’s victory with the unconditional support of voters and with a high percentage of turnout.” Moreover, as stated in the report of the central executive committee of United Russia, “patriotic consensus” and “consolidation of society around power” are already evident.

On September 14, United Russia summed up the final results of the elections at a joint meeting of its main party bodies – the bureau of the Supreme Council and the Presidium of the General Council. Chairman of the Supreme Council Boris Gryzlov recalled that in the elections to representative bodies at all levels, the party received a qualified majority of mandates (including thanks to an overwhelming advantage in single-mandate constituencies) and significantly improved results compared to the previous electoral cycle.

“The main thing that millions of people need now is the safe and stable development of the country. Social support, implementation of regional development plans. Predictability of tomorrow, confidence in the future. Achieving SBO goals. Reliable protection from any possible provocations and external aggression,” Mr. Gryzlov outlined the immediate prospects for party and government work. In his opinion, the growth of voter confidence in United Russia was facilitated by “many years of active work on the implementation of the people’s program.” “We are consistently fulfilling our election promises, without making allowances for objective difficulties and difficult conditions,” the United Russia member emphasized.

Among the election winners from United Russia are more than 100 participants in a special military operation, more than 100 winners of the “Politstart” personnel project and more than 200 female candidates who were accompanied by mentors within the framework of the party project “Women’s Movement of United Russia,” Secretary of the Party General Council Andrei Turchak continued the report. Now, according to him, United Russia is starting to prepare for the 2024 presidential elections. “The results are on the scoreboard. Indeed, this is a good foundation for next year, when we face the main elections of our country. The party is ready for these elections, we are not disbanding the headquarters. Since September 11, in fact, the same headquarters began preparing for and directly participating in the presidential elections of the Russian Federation,” noted Mr. Turchak.

His deputy and head of the central executive committee of United Russia, Alexander Sidyakin, in turn, recalled that by the presidential elections, party members must expand the base of their supporters to 33 million people, and their level of loyalty must be above 90%. Separately, Mr. Sidyakin dwelled on the elections he supervised in new regions, noting the high turnout and equally high results of United Russia. “There is a lot of work ahead. Conferences will be held next week, we will recommend leaders of factions, chairmen of legislative assemblies, candidates for senators,” added the head of the executive committee.

Another deputy secretary of the General Council of United Russia, Sergei Perminov, especially noted that compared to the 2018 elections in the same regions, the party has increased its core support by 1 million voters.

Boris Gryzlov summed up the reports of fellow party members, saying that the main task of United Russia in 2024 is “to ensure the victory of the president with the unconditional support of voters and with a high percentage of turnout.” In general, according to him, United Russia’s credo is “to defeat all rivals in all our elections.”

On the eve of the joint meeting of the United Russia governing bodies, the results of the triumphant election campaign for the party were summed up by the central executive committee of United Russia. The special report, which Kommersant reviewed, summarizes that “the elections were held in conditions of achieving a patriotic consensus, and their results demonstrate the consolidation of society around the government.” This conclusion, according to the authors of the document, is confirmed, first of all, by the results of direct gubernatorial elections in 21 regions, in 19 of which candidates nominated by United Russia won a landslide victory in the first round and with a result of more than 70% of the votes (in two more regions won by the current heads – members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation). And the record high average turnout (more than 45%) is regarded by United Russia members as “an indicator of the active patriotism of citizens” and “a demonstration of personal approval of President Vladimir Putin.”

At the same time, as the report specifically notes, the communist leader of Khakassia, Valentin Konovalov, showed the worst result among all current governors (63%). Although the elections in the republic were practically uncontested (United Russia candidate Sergei Sokol withdrew due to health reasons) and were held “under conditions of total use of administrative resources,” Mr. Konovalov, like his other colleagues, failed to overcome the bar of 70% of the votes. This result, as well as the overwhelming majority of mandates in the Supreme Council of Khakassia obtained by United Russia in the parallel elections, “confirms the ongoing request for a change of governor in the presence of a worthy alternative,” the authors of the document are confident.

“In the situation of the SVO and the general trend towards consolidation, there was no great demand among voters for political shows with the participation of candidates,” the United Russia explains the general mood of citizens. Therefore, in most regions, the elections of senior officials “were a referendum in nature, where the current head of the region or acting head was confidently in the lead.” The party also points to a decrease in support for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which has greatly reduced its representation in the legislative bodies of the Ivanovo and Yaroslavl regions. As for the radical opposition, it was not able to manifest itself at all in these elections – neither in the electoral field, nor in the information space, United Russia members triumphantly state: “The projects (PP) promoted in previous electoral periods turned out to be completely unclaimed by voters and candidates.”

The report also notes that elections in the new regions “were held in accordance with all established high standards of democratic will,” despite intimidation of election commission members by Kiev, information hoaxes, cyber attacks on digital services and direct military attacks on voting stations. At the same time, residents of the new regions showed a high level of civic activity and “commitment to the Russian course.” To prove this thesis, the authors of the document cited, in particular, the case described in the Telegram channel “The Main Thing in Kherson,” when schoolgirl Maya Lyashenko came to the polling station in Skadovsk “together with her mother and a portrait of Vladimir Vladimirovich.”

Afanasy Sborov, Anastasia Kornya