MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/. Incumbent or acting governors are leading in Russian regional elections, according to data from the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC). The United Russia party currently holds a vote advantage in regional legislative elections.
According to the latest reports, no major violations were reported in the voting. The voter turnout in the majority of regions was lower than in similar elections previously, with more than 80% of voters registered for online voting in seven Russian regions taking part virtually.
Below are a few facts about the election results so far.
Regional governors
- Incumbent or acting heads are reportedly winning by a wide margin in all the regions. All of them, except for the Yaroslavl Region’s Mikhail Yevrayev and Mari El’s Yury Zaitsev, run as self-nominees and represent the United Russian party.
- One winner is already known: the parliament of the Republic of Adygeya unanimously voted to reelect Murat Kumpilov as head of the republic for his second term, and he has already taken office officially.
Regional parliaments
- The ruling United Russia party is winning the majority of votes in regional parliamentary elections in six Russian regions, according to the CEC.
Voter turnout
- In the majority of regions where the elections were held, the voter turnout was lower than in similar elections previously. The Kirov and Tomsk Regions as well as Udmurtia are the few exceptions.
- The total voter turnout in Moscow’s municipal elections was 33.9%. Over 1.7 million people voted online, and more than 695,000 Muscovites cast their vote at polling booths, Vadim Kovalyov, head of the Public Headquarters for Election Observation in Moscow, told TASS on Monday.
- This year, online voting was also used in the Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kursk, Novgorod, Pskov, Tomsk and Yaroslavl regions. As of 4:30 pm on Sunday, some 93,000 people voted online there, or 83% of those registered for online voting.
No violations
- No major violations that would require "immediate or proactive interference" were registered in this year’s elections, CEC Deputy Chairman Nikolay Bulayev reported. His estimate was shared by the Interior Ministry. The Interior Ministry registered no "violations that could affect the elections," Mikhail Davydov, the head of the Ministry’s main department for the protection of public order, said.
- According to Russian Human Rights Ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova, the elections were held at a high level, with no gross violations of the Russians’ voter rights reported.
- Dmitry Medvedev, United Russia leader and deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, also stressed that "everything has taken place, and everything was in line with election laws," however, "certain episodes could necessitate a probe." He also found the results quite decent.
- Hacker attacks on online voting systems in Moscow and regions were reported, but those did not have any major consequences though. The Digital Development Ministry registered more than 35,000 cyberattacks on the online voting platform, while Moscow, where its own system was used, reported 10,000 DDoS attacks over the three days of the voting.