MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. The voter turnout at Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Russia reached 33% as of 15:00 Moscow time, Nikolai Bulayev, a deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) told journalists.
"As of three in the afternoon, the voter turnout was practically 33% We think it demonstrates good dynamics," he said.
He said the voter turnout ranges greatly by regions - from 25-30% to 60% and more. "There are leaders: the Republic of Tuva, where the voter turnout is 67.92%, the Tyumen region (practically 70%), the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous area (71%), Kemerovo (78%)," he said, adding that the voter turnout in central European Russia is about 30%
Elections to the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of Parliament, are being on September 18 in a split system: 225 members of parliament will be elected by party tickets, while the other 225 are going to be elected in one-seat constituencies. More than 111 million people are eligible to vote in the election and no minimal turnout is required.
Fourteen parties are on the election ballot: the United Russia party, the Communist Party of Russia, the Liberal Democratic Party, A Just Russia party, Russia’s Patriots, Civil Platform, the Green party, the Party of Growth, Parnas, Civil Power, Russia’s Communists, Yabloko, Rodina (Motherland) and the Russian Party of Pensioners for Justice. Parties have to pass the five-percent electoral threshold to win seats in the Duma.
On the same day, 39 Russian regions go to the polls to elect their legislative assemblies, direct elections of top officials are taking place in seven regions. Besides that, around 5,000 municipal elections are also held.
The number of registered candidates for the upcoming elections at all levels, from federal to municipal, exceeds 103,000 office-seekers.