United Russia Wins 57.8% in Russia's First Parliamentary Vote Since Ukraine Invasion
United Russia won 57.83% of the vote in Russia's parliamentary election, according to Russia's Central Election Commission.
Voters chose the 450-seat State Duma, the lower house of parliament, over three days from Friday to Sunday. It was Russia's first parliamentary election since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as reported Sept. 21, 2026 Al Jazeera.
The count is nearly complete. With 90.43% of ballots counted on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, Commission data via TASS put Vladimir Putin's United Russia at 57.86% in early returns, later reported at 57.83%. An earlier partial count, with about 58% of precincts reporting, had given the party nearly 58% of the vote for the 225 deputies chosen by party lists Associated Press.
Turnout stood just below 57% as of Sunday night, according to the Commission. More than 3.6 million people voted online, according to Russia's Ministry of Digital Development cited by TASS.
The Duma uses a mixed system. Think of it as two parallel contests: 225 deputies are picked from party lists based on vote share, and 225 win in individual districts. Because of that split, the list percentage alone does not set the final seat count.
TASS early figures placed four other parties above the threshold for list seats. The Communist Party stood at 13.84%, LDPR at 8.9%, New People at 7.94%, and A Just Russia at 4.95%.
For comparison, United Russia took 49.8% in 2021 Yahoo News. It held 326 of 450 seats, an absolute majority. The Communist Party was second with 57 seats. The 2026 electorate included residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhia, and Crimea.
The broader context here is institutional continuity through a wartime electoral cycle. A rise from 49.8% to 57.83% in the list vote changes the starting math for managing the chamber, especially alongside 225 single-seat races that have historically favored the best-organized party. To watch are how the list result converts into seats, whether the four other parties keep the same order, and how turnout below 57% and online voting above 3.6 million appear in the final protocols. Inclusion of voters in those five territories will also affect how outside governments and international institutions assess the returns.
