Next— the majority: EP may get the largest faction in the history of the State Duma

The Central Election Commission of Russia completes the counting of votes in the State Duma elections. At the moment, "United Russia" claims more than 340 seats in the new convocation and may become the largest faction in modern history. The main opposition, represented by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, on the contrary, has sunk to 13% and risks losing over 15 mandates. LDPR will retain third place, and "New People" came in fourth, setting a personal best. The main intrigue remains the fate of "Fair Russia" due to the weak results. When the final results will be summed up and how the appearance of the new parliament will change — in the "Izvestia" material.

Preliminary voting results

Preliminary results of a large-scale election campaign have been summed up in Russia. From September 18 to September 20, Russians cast their votes for federal and regional deputies, as well as for the heads of constituent entities. In total, more than 20 thousand deputy mandates and elected positions were renewed throughout the country in EDG-2026.

The campaign for the State Duma of the ninth convocation was expected to be the most striking. Following the results of the elections, 225 deputies will be elected to the lower house of parliament on federal party lists and another 225 in single—mandate constituencies.

After processing more than 96% of the protocols, "United Russia" is confidently in the lead. She is gaining 57.8% of the lists, and also wins in 208 single-member districts, according to the report of the head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova. In total, the party can get 355 mandates out of 450 and form the largest faction in the State Duma in the entire history of modern Russian parliamentarism. Before that, the EP reached a record in 2016, when it won 343 places. And the elections of the VIII convocation brought 324 mandates.

This result is due to the fact that the EP was able to respond to the request of citizens who are concerned about security and sovereignty issues, says Artur Zabbarov, deputy head of the Department of political projects at the "Polylogue" Group. According to him, the party demonstrates concrete and verifiable work results that voters see.

The traditional opposition, on the other hand, is facing a systemic crisis. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation risks losing 17 seats in the State Duma — from 57 seats to 40. At the moment, the Communists are in second place, gaining more than 13% of the lists and winning in five districts. The party is losing ground not only because of the natural generational change, but also because of outdated rhetoric that no longer translates into support, Zabbarov believes. In addition, due to the high turnout, the traditional communist party core has dissolved into the total mass of votes for the EP, political analyst Dmitry Zhuravlev explained to "Izvestia". The turnout reached 59.3% and was a record for campaigns of this level, said Ella Pamfilova.

The Communists are followed by the LDPR with 9% and two districts. The number of her faction in the State Duma will increase from 21 to 25 people, which can be explained by the stable electorate of the so-called "angry businessmen," Zhuravlev clarifies. First of all, these are representatives of SMEs, as well as the middle class. Under the conditions of Western sanctions, the Liberal Democratic Party this year actively demanded to reduce administrative pressure on entrepreneurs, reduce inspections and give greater economic freedom.

The "New People" broke into fourth place with 7.9%, without taking a single single-mandate district. The faction of this political force will grow from 13 to 20 seats, which will be the best result since its formation. The party was able to offer, primarily to urban voters, more intimate topics and use notable technological moves, and it also actively worked with the creative electorate, Zabbarov believes. Finally, the PL was able to fill the liberal niche that was empty in parliament, including opposition voters, Zhuravlev notes.

"Fair Russia", on the contrary, worsened its position. By morning, the party had not overcome the 5% barrier and did not enter parliament, but after processing new ballots, it still reached an important mark. At the same time, the Socialist Revolutionaries managed to win four single-member districts. Nevertheless, the balance of power may still change, as the final results will be announced no earlier than September 25. The decline in the rating is due to the fact that every year the demands of the party became more and more blurred, and the electorate went to other political forces, experts believe.

"""" The remaining participants — the Party of Pensioners, " "Greens", "Communists of Russia", "Rodina", the Party of Direct Democracy — have so far scored less than 5% and are not going to parliament. However, "Rodina" managed to win one mandate, which will be taken by its leader Alexei Zhuravlev. Four seats will also be occupied by self-nominated candidates.

How will the State Duma change and how were the regional elections held

Following the election results, Vladimir Putin plans to hold a meeting with the leaders of the factions of the new convocation of the State Duma, said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "Of course, he always does this, and we will inform you in a timely manner what form it will take this time," he said.

Obviously, the first step for the newly elected deputies will be to establish contacts with the government, which regularly submits its bills to parliament. A drastic change in the political course in the new convocation of the State Duma should not be expected, says Artur Zabbarov. "United Russia" has retained its constitutional majority and will be able to consistently implement the decisions announced in the "People's Program". The new composition will continue to work on a significant part of the initiatives laid down by the previous convocation. The difference will be in the composition of the relevant committees and the emphasis rather than in the change of the general course.

However, the mood and character of the parliament may change, Dmitry Zhuravlev believes. The State Duma will become tougher and focus on clean lawmaking and governance, minimizing intra-parliamentary discussions. The argument in favor of this will be the overwhelming majority of "United Russia". Acute public discussions may gradually move to the Public Chamber.

In addition to the federal campaign, elections of senior officials have ended in the regions of Russia. Ella Pamfilova has already congratulated Rashid Temrezov and Sergey Menyailo on their election as heads of Karachay-Cherkessia and North Ossetia—Alania. They were elected by regional parliaments. Direct elections of heads were held in eight regions.

At the moment, the current heads and acting heads retain the absolute majority of votes. In Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov leads with a score of 99.85%, while the head of Tuva, Vladislav Khovalyg, scores 90.95% after processing 100% of the protocols. The head of Mordovia, Artyom Zdunov (77.9%), and the governor of the Ulyanovsk region, Alexey Russian (76.6%), also show strong support, while the governor of the Penza Region, Oleg Melnichenko, receives 70.89% of the vote.

Among the leaders of the campaign in other regions are Acting Governor of the Tver region Vitaly Korolev with 69.6%, acting Governor of the Bryansk region Egor Kovalchuk (68%) and acting Governor of the Belgorod region Alexander Shuvaev, gaining 65.9% of the vote. Thus, the whole campaign ended without surprises. A major victory for the ruling party in the person of "United Russia" will unite the Duma and the government into a monolithic mechanism for the entire five—year plan - until 2031.