The pro-Kremlin United Russia party has taken the lead in elections to various regional legislatures across Russia

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

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The pro-Kremlin United Russia party has taken the lead in elections to various regional legislatures across Russia, local election officials said Monday. The polls, which were held on Sunday, have been touted by many as a dress rehearsal for the elections to the lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, in 2007. In the Khanty-Mansiisk Autonomous Area in West Siberia, "the party of power," as United Russia is commonly known, has received 56.2% of the votes with 71% of ballots counted. It is followed by the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) with 10.38% of the votes, the Communist Party with 9.16%, and the Russian Pensioners' Party with 7.96%. Residents of the Republic of Adygea in southern Russia were electing Sunday 54 deputies to the local legislature in single-seat constituencies and from party lists. "According to preliminary results, the United Russia party, which received 33% of the votes, is leading in party list ballots," a local official said. The Communist Party received 15.2% of the votes, the Russian United Industrial Party 13.6%, and the Agrarian Party 10%. According to the official, the LDPR, the Russian Party of Life, the Russian Pensioners' Party and the Party of Social Justice have failed to pass the required 7%-ballot threshold. United Russia, which holds a constitutional majority in the national Duma and counts the chamber's speaker among its leaders, is also well ahead in the Kaliningrad Region, Russia's exclave on the Baltic Sea, with 35.6% of the votes so far. It is followed by the Communist Party with 14.84% of the votes, the Russian Pensioners' Party with 9.08% and the LDPR with 7.31%. In the Kursk Region in central Russia, the pro-Kremlin party received 37.36%, the Communist party 11.28%, and the Party of Life 7.27%. "The Democratic Party of Russia is also closing on the required 7% threshold with 6.99% of votes so far," a local official said. All officials said voter turnout had been low and there had been a high percentage of "against all" votes 16% on average.

Bookmark The pro-Kremlin United Russia party has taken the lead in elections to various regional legislatures across Russia