Legislative elections were held in Russia from 17 to 19 September 2021. At stake were 450 seats in the 8th convocation of the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly. Going into the elections, United Russia was the ruling party after winning the 2016 elections with 343 of the 450 seats, and retaining a supermajority. In March 2020, it was proposed to hold a snap election in September 2020 due to proposed constitutional reforms, but this idea was abandoned. On 18 June 2021, Vladimir Putin signed a decree calling the election for 19 September the same year. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, voting in the election lasted for three days, from 17 to 19 September. Final turnout was reported to be 51.72%.
Fifteen political parties applied for participation, 14 of which were guaranteed automatic access to the ballots, and one unsuccessfully attempted to be included in the ballot by collecting voters' signatures. Half, or 225 seats, of the State Duma were elected through legislative constituencies; the other 225 seats were elected through party lists, which cover the whole of Russia.
Like prior elections in Russia, the election was not free and fair. Many episodes of ballot-stuffing, forced voting, and other irregularities were recorded. Putin's administration and the ruling United Russia party used a managed democracy approach to keep an appearance of political pluralism. The election was marred by nation's most prominent opposition leaders (particularly those associated with jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny) and figures being excluded from ballot, imprisoned or exiled in months coming before the election. Authorities also designated various independent media outlets and non-governmental organisations as "foreign agents", including the independent election monitor Golos. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) also said that it would not send observers for the first time since 1993 due to "major limitations" imposed by Russian authorities.
Following the election, United Russia maintained its constitutional majority despite some losses, taking 324 seats, while it received 49.82% of the vote, according to official results. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation received 57 seats and 18.93% of the vote, while A Just Russia — For Truth received 27 seats and 7.46% of the vote, with the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia receiving 21 seats and 7.55% of the vote. New People received 13 seats and 5.32% of the vote, meaning that for the first time since 2007, a fifth faction would be represented in the State Duma.
The election was marred by widespread accusations of fraud. The introduction of remote electronic voting in several regions was also criticized by the opposition, who alleged widespread vote-rigging, especially in Moscow, with the Communist Party refusing to recognize the results of electronic voting in Moscow. As a result, opposition candidates have sought to annul the electronic voting results by legal means. In response to the election results, protests were held. Statisticians have attributed the results to mass fraud.
Background.
Early polling, pension reform, and 2018 protests.
After the 2016 Russian legislative election, United Russia was the most popular party, with its polling rates ranging from 40% to 55%, while the ratings of the main opposition parties were much lower; the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) each had just over 10%, while A Just Russia (JR) was around the 5% threshold required to enter the State Duma.
In June 2018, after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced a reform to raise the retirement age, the rating of ruling party United Russia fell sharply and since then has fluctuated from around 35% to 25% sparking the 2018 Russian pension protests during summer. At the same time, the CPRF's rating has grown and currently ranges from 11% to 17%, while the rating of JR had also increased but still remained relatively low and varied in between 5% and 8%, and the rating of the LDPR has remained consistent at around 10% to 13%. Polling results differ on whether the CPRF or the LDPRF are ranked as the second most popular party. The ratings of all non-parliamentary parties combined ranges from around 6% to 17%, with exact numbers for each party unknown. When the share of people who answered they would not vote and who are unsure are equally distributed among the parties, voter share for United Russia fluctuates around 41%, the CPRF around 20%, the LDPR around 15%, JR around 8%, and other parties around 14%.
2020 constitutional reform and speculations about a snap election.
During his 2020 Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly on 15 January, President Vladimir Putin proposed a referendum to be held on the number of amendments arguing that a national vote would be necessary to make the changes to the Constitution of Russia "legitimate". The amendments proposed to weaken the executive power and expand the powers of the Federal Assembly. In particular, it is supposed to transfer the power to form a government to the State Duma; this means that if the amendments were adopted, the next Cabinet would be formed by the State Duma. Immediately after Putin's speech, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev resigned along with the entire government. On 16 January, Mikhail Mishustin was appointed as the new Prime Minister. After that, there were suggestions about the dissolution of the State Duma and holding a snap election after the constitutional reform; the State Duma can only be dissolved if it refuses the President's appointment of a Prime Minister three times in a row or passes a no-confidence motion against the government. According to sources from the Presidential Administration of Russia, the constitution may be amended to allow self-dissolution of the State Duma. Some political scientists and MPs also have said that the dissolution of the State Duma and holding of a snap election is likely; however, this opinion is not shared by Andrey Klishas, head of the Legal Committee of the Federation Council, who is part of the working group on preparing amendments to the constitution.
During the second reading of the draft law on amendments to the constitution on 10 March, Member of Parliament (MP) Alexander Karelin introduced an amendment on holding a snap election. The amendment gave the State Duma the opportunity to decide once to dissolve itself after the amendments were adopted. At first, the proposal was supported by a majority of deputies; however, because there was no consensus on this issue, with the CPRF in particular against it, President Putin urged not to dissolve the State Duma, and Karelin then withdrew the amendment. If the amendment had been passed, a snap election would have been held on 13 or 20 September 2020. MP Valentina Tereshkova proposed a reset on Putin's presidential terms, which would allow him to stay in office past his second term until 2036, as it was originally set to end in 2024. United Russia supported Tereshkova's proposal, and in Putin's response, "I believe and am deeply convinced that a strong presidential power is absolutely necessary for our country [and] for stability", citing examples of countries without presidential term limits and referencing former United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served four consecutive terms. The decision received backlash among the opposition and political groups, accusing Putin of trying to serve as president for life.
The 2020 constitutional referendum was held from 25 June to 1 July; 78% of Russian voters approved on the new amendments including extension of Putin's term to 2036. Despite the outcome, the referendum was criticized as being flawed with cases of electoral fraud. Unsanctioned protests over the result of the vote occurred to with 140 people being detained in Moscow. In spite of the rejection of the self-dissolution amendment, the legal possibility of holding a snap election remained in the case of a triple refusal of the State Duma to confirm the Prime Minister or Ministers, or a double vote of no confidence in the government. Immediately after the amendments to the constitution came into force, speculation about possible early elections resumed. In particular, Sergey Mironov, the leader of JR, assumed that early elections could be held, referring to the desire of the country's senior leadership. According to analysts, a snap election could have been held in December 2020 or early 2021.
COVID-19 pandemic.
Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the format of individual electoral events can be changed for health reasons. In 2020, a law was passed that allows early voting at polling stations two days before the official voting day. In addition, the polling stations themselves can be organized outside the premises, but this decision is not mandatory and may be made by the CEC within ten days after the election is scheduled.
Barring of opposition candidates.
A number of opposition candidates were barred from running in the elections, including allies of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny and other candidates affiliated with him following the designation of his networks, including the Anti-Corruption Foundation, as "extremist" earlier in the year, effectively banning anyone associated with Navalny or his groups from running for office. Navalny allies barred from running include Lyubov Sobol, Ilya Yashin, Oleg Stepanov, Irina Fatyanova, and Alexandra Semenova. Other allies of Navalny were exiled prior to the election and tried to coordinate opposition votes from abroad.
Pavel Grudinin, a high-profile candidate of the CPRF who run in the 2018 Russian presidential election, was excluded from the ballot by the election commission for allegedly owning foreign assets. The CPRF linked the barring of Grudinin to the waning support of the ruling United Russia party and likelihood of opposition parties securing strong results. Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said he would appeal the decision.
Yabloko party candidates who were barred from the legislative elections included Yulia Galyamina, Lev Schlossberg, Viktor Rau, Natalia Rezontova, Yelena Izotova, Ruslan Zinatullin, and Anatoly Nogovitsin. Six Party of Growth candidates (Rafail Gibadullin, Magomed Magomedaliev, Elena Motova, Evgenia Orlova, Alexei Uryvaev, and Zaur Shakhbanov) were eliminated in a single court ruling over alleged foreign funding. Anton Furgal and Roman Yuneman, two independent candidates, were removed from the candidate lists using other legal pretexts.
Smart Voting.
Smart Voting, a tactical voting strategy created by Navalny and his team aimed at electing candidates with the best chance of defeating those backed by the Kremlin and the ruling United Russia party, faced a crackdown by authorities before the election. Navalny urged voters to use the Smart Voting website to vote against pro-Kremlin candidates. Smart Voting was previously used twice in regional elections, helping opposition candidates win 20 of 45 seats in the 2019 Moscow City Duma election and United Russia lose its majorities in the legislatures of the cities of Novosibirsk, Tambov, and Tomsk. Navalny ally Leonid Volkov stated that "15%-20% of candidates endorsed by Smart Voting have won seats in legislatures".
On 3 September, the Moscow Arbitration Court ordered Google and Yandex to stop displaying the search term "smart voting" (in Russian) from its search results, after a wool company called Woolintertrade, which registered a trademark with the phrase during the summer, demanded that the phrase be removed from search results. According to a report by BBC Russian, the company, founded in Dagestan, may have ties with Russian police. Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov called the decision "illegal" and also said: "It's naive to think that some company can register a trademark in a month, and then quickly file a lawsuit in the Moscow court and immediately get interim measures".
On 6 September, access to the Smart Voting website in Russia was cut off, with Volkov stating that authorities had used a TSPU (technical tools to counter threats) system as part of the Sovereign Internet Law. Roskomnadzor said the website was blocked because it was being used to "continue the activities and holding events of an extremist organisation". The previous week, Roskomnadzor warned Apple and Google that it could face fines if the Smart Voting mobile app was not removed from their stores.
On 15 September, Roskomnadzor reportedly began temporarily blocking Google Docs after the lists of Smart Voting endorsements had been released, later restoring access to the service by the next day. Roskomnadzor denied it ordered any blocking of the site. Navalny's team subsequently published the list on GitHub. On 18 September, Navalny's team shared a letter by Google ordering the deletion of the endorsements on Google Docs otherwise it may block access to them. According to the document, Google states that the content is illegal in Russia