Early results show Russia’s main Kremlin party dominating tightly controlled parliamentary vote

BY  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Russia’s main Kremlin party, United Russia, was dominating the country’s first wartime parliamentary election, according to early returns released Monday from a tightly controlled election virtually devoid of opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s policies.
The vote, which is all but certain to cement the Kremlin’s dominance, began Friday for 111 million eligible voters and ended Sunday.
The balloting included residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed after the war began, but still doesn’t fully control, as well as those in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, a move Kyiv denounced as illegal and the European Union described as a “blatant violation of international law.”
With some 58% of the precincts counted, United Russia had nearly 58% of the vote for the 225 deputies apportioned by party lists, according to Russia’s Central Election Commission. Another 225 lawmakers will be chosen in single-seat races, and United Russia also was poised to win most of those.
As of late Sunday, the turnout stood at a little under 57%, Russia’s Central Election Commission said.
As the early results came in, voting continued at some embassies and consulates in time zones further west, including in the United States.
Kremlin long expected to keep control
The Kremlin has sought the parliamentary election — the first since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — to showcase popular support for the war and legitimize its action. It has sought to avoid political risks by stamping out any dissent.
A massive state media campaign and tight control over the election in the absence of genuine opposition all but assure the Kremlin will keep tight control of Russian politics amid mounting economic costs and increasing Ukrainian drone attacks deep inside the country.
Voters cast two separate ballots, filling half of the Duma’s 450 seats by selecting political parties listed on the ballot. The rest are contested in single-seat constituencies, with voters choosing individual candidates.
The main Kremlin party, United Russia, has been widely expected to retain its overwhelming control of the lower house, the State Duma.
The early results showed four other parties that almost always vote for Kremlin initiatives returning to the State Duma.