Putin signed a decree on holding elections to the State Duma: dates announced
16 June 14:09
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree scheduling
elections to the State Duma of the 9th convocation on September 20, 2026. The decree was published on Tuesday, June 16, on the official legal information portal. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to DW.
Voting, as before, will last three days, with September 20 being the final day of voting. The elections will take place on a single voting day alongside regional and municipal elections across Russia.
Ella Pamfilova: “No need to complain”
Central Election Commission Chair Ella Pamfilova announced that the election campaign will begin on June 16.
“A presidential decree has officially launched the election campaign for the election of deputies to the State Duma of the ninth convocation. Thus, starting today, election activities related to the preparation and conduct of these elections will begin,” the official channel of the CEC of the Russian Federation quoted Pamfilova as saying.
The day before, Pamfilova acknowledged possible communication disruptions in a number of regions during the voting period but urged voters not to complain.
“I believe there is no need to complain, because let’s weigh the options: you couldn’t access the internet versus people’s lives being saved. Communication and internet issues will be in the interest of ensuring security,” she stated.
CEC Deputy Chair Mykola Bulaev clarified that the commission had prepared a draft resolution taking into account the situation with drones in the country’s regions.
Occupied territories and electronic voting
These are the first elections to the State Duma since the start of the full-scale war launched by Russia against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. For the first time, voting will be organized in the occupied regions of Ukraine in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Luhansk regions, which the Russian authorities have declared their territory. Elections have been held previously in the annexed Crimea.
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Remote electronic voting will take place in 33 regions of the country. However, this method has been repeatedly criticized: journalists and analysts have documented widespread fraud during online voting.
The opposition is virtually sidelined
The elections will be held based on party lists and 225 single-member districts. Seventeen parties have been admitted to participate, 12 of which are not required to collect signatures because they are represented in regional parliaments. Last year, in similar regional elections, over a thousand participants in the war in Ukraine were elected to various positions.
Opposition candidates face extremely difficult conditions. Following yet another tightening of legislation, Russian authorities have gained expanded powers to eliminate unwanted candidates. A number of prominent representatives of the Yabloko and CPRF parties have been stripped of their right to run due to administrative penalties or criminal cases.
“Yabloko” remains the only political force allowed to participate in the elections that opposes the war in Ukraine: the party’s official position is a call for peace to both sides. The vast majority of anti-war and opposition organizations have been barred from the elections.
The previous State Duma elections took place in September 2021. Based on their results, United Russia retains a constitutional majority.
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