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By JIM HEINTZ and DARIA LITVINOVA
MOSCOW (AP) – The first results of Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Russia showed that the dominant pro-Kremlin party was in the lead, but it was not clear whether the party would retain the two-thirds majority of the seats that allow it to win. change the constitution.
The election is widely seen as an important part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to consolidate his grip on power ahead of the 2024 presidential election, in which control of the State Duma, or parliament, will be the key.
The results of about 20% of polling stations nationwide gave the pro-Kremlin United Russia party 42% of the vote for the 225 deputies divided by party lists, according to the electoral commission. Another 225 lawmakers will be chosen by individual races, and the Election Commission said early results showed United Russia candidates leading in 179 of those constituency seats.
Sunday’s election lacked a significant opposition presence after Russian authorities declared organizations linked to jailed Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s most important enemy, extremist. The vote was also marred by numerous reports of violations, including ballot stuffing.
Early results showed that three other parties almost always support Putin’s return to the State Duma, as well as the New People party, which was formed last year and is seen by many as a Kremlin-sponsored project. .
The Communist Party received 23% of the party list vote, a huge improvement from the 13% it got in the last election in 2016. United Russia got around 54% five years ago, so that early results indicate a substantial decline in support.
The Communists “are winning wherever they have been able to lead a strong campaign and that is great. It’s not great because we like the Communist Party, because we don’t like it, but because it increases the level of political competition in Russia, ”said Leonid Volkov, a senior Navalny official.
Ahead of the election, Putin expressed hope that the United Russia party would retain its dominance in parliament, where it held 334 out of 450 seats. But although the party is Putin’s power base, it is far less popular than the president. himself.
This year’s vote saw most politicians and opposition activists barred from running as Russian authorities unleashed a massive effort to quell protests and dissent.
Reports of ballot violations by Russian media, opposition politicians and election observers during the three-day vote have been pouring in since Friday morning, when long lines formed at the offices vote from Moscow and other cities. Some of those in line told reporters they were forced to vote by their employers, often a state-run institution.
Over the weekend, several videos of ballot stuffing circulated on social media. In some areas, incidents of “carousel voting” have been reported – groups of voters voting multiple times at different polling stations – as well as clashes between election observers and election officials.
The head of Russia’s Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, has confirmed at least eight incidents of ballot stuffing in six Russian regions. In total, the committee has so far invalidated 7,465 ballot papers in 14 regions.
In recent months, authorities have unleashed a sweeping crackdown on opposition politicians and Navalny’s smart voting strategy to solidify the protest vote against United Russia. Smart voting increases the odds of victory for opposition candidates by telling voters which candidates in specific areas have the best chance of defeating those backed by the Kremlin, and authorities have made numerous attempts to wipe it out. Internet.
About fifty websites managed by Navalny have been blocked, including the one dedicated to Smart Voting.
On Friday, Apple and Google removed an app offering smart voting from their online stores to Russian users under pressure from the authorities. The founder of the Telegram messaging app, Pavel Durov, also blocked a chat bot dedicated to smart voting on Saturday. And YouTube has blocked access to several videos listing the candidates supported by Smart Voting.
Navalny’s allies attributed the crackdown on smart voting and reports of voting violations to the Kremlin’s lack of confidence in achieving the desired result.
“Either they are so insecure and fear smart voting so much … or the ratings are even worse than what we’ve seen, or they have failed to keep their nerves in check – but the level of blatant falsifications turned out to be even higher than in 2011, ”Navalny’s top strategist Leonid Volkov wrote on Facebook.
Reports of massive vote rigging by Russian parliamentarians in 2011 sparked months of anti-government and anti-Putin protests.
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