Exit Polls Put Putin’s United Russia at 49.4% in Russian State Duma Vote

Russia’s ruling United Russia party is leading in the country’s State Duma elections, according to preliminary exit polls, with the party receiving 49.4% of the vote in a survey conducted by the state-run All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM).The exit poll put the Communist Party (CPRF) in second place with 14.2%, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) with 10.7%. New People received 9.7%, while A Just Russia was at 6.6%.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.VTsIOM surveyed voters at 1,755 polling stations across 69 Russian regions. Some 55.1% of respondents agreed to answer the pollsters’ questions.A separate exit poll by INSOMAR, conducted at 987 polling stations across 58 Russian regions, put United Russia at 52.8%, the CPRF at 14.8%, the LDPR at 9.9%, New People at 8.6% and A Just Russia at 5.5%.Both exit polls showed the Pensioners’ Party receiving more than 3% of the vote. While the 3% threshold does not qualify a party for seats in the State Duma, parties reaching that level become eligible for state funding.Turnout exceeds 2021 levelVoter turnout stood at 56.66% as of 8:55 p.m. Moscow time on Sunday, when voting concluded, according to Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC).The figure was higher than the official turnout recorded in the previous two State Duma elections: 51.72% in 2021 and 47.88% in 2016. Turnout in 2011 was 60.21%.CEC Deputy Chairman Nikolai Bulaev said 3.3 million Russians had voted online through the federal remote electronic voting (REV) platform. Other Topics of Interest Le Pen, Bardella Reject Russian ‘Intimidation’ Ahead of Vote Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella declared France will not yield to Russian intimidation. According to Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, turnout on the REV platform reached 90.87%.CEC Chair Ella Pamfilova said United Russia received 49.06% of the vote in remote electronic voting, followed by New People with 15.42% and the CPRF with 12.26%.Exit polls show different results abroadExit poll data from polling stations outside Russia showed a markedly different picture.As of 6 p.m. Sunday Central European Time, New People had received 48.3% among surveyed voters abroad, followed by the CPRF with 19% and United Russia with 2.3%, according to the Russian independent outlet Dozhd, citing the Vesna and Progress movements.The surveys were conducted in Buenos Aires, Yerevan, Brussels, Barcelona, Seoul, Vilnius, Luxembourg, The Hague, Oslo and eight other cities. Nearly 80% of the 7,575 respondents agreed to participate, while 3.2% said they had spoiled their ballots.Preliminary results expected MondayPamfilova said the CEC would release preliminary results from the elections at 11 a.m. Moscow time on Sept. 21. She said final results would be announced no earlier than Sept. 25.As vote counting began, early CEC figures showed United Russia with 57.5% after 13.88% of protocols had been processed. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.