Russia’s First Duma Election Since the Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine in 2022: What’s the Significance?

Elections in the land of Putin the Terrible!

"In brief: Russia’s first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion will renew the legislature that approves wartime spending, conscription measures, and repressive laws. With Yabloko [sole officially registered party to openly oppose the Russian war] excluded from the national ballot, opposition figures imprisoned, and independent monitoring dismantled, the result cannot credibly measure freely expressed support for the war. ...

Voting opened Sept. 18 in Russia’s first State Duma election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has explicitly framed the ballot as a national demonstration of unity and unwavering support for his war effort. Yet the country’s sole registered party openly campaigning against that war has been banned from the nationwide party-list ballot. ...

Russians are electing 450 State Duma members for five-year terms, split equally between party lists and single-member constituencies.

Putin’s United Russia party needs 300 seats to hold its constitutional supermajority, the exact threshold required to rewrite the constitution without minority votes. Moscow flatly declined to invite election observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). ..."

Analysis: Russia’s First Duma Election Since the Full-Scale Invasion: What’s the Significance?