Russia elections: Four parties hope for success in 2016

Four parties may count for success at next year's elections to the State Duma (Parliament) of the Russian Federation: United Russia, the Liberal Democratic Party, Just Russia and the Communist Party (CPRF). So-called smaller parties have a chance too, although their representatives can count on success only in single-mandate constituencies, political analysts believe.

Russia elections: Four parties hope for success in 2016. Russia elections

These are the conclusions of the single day of voting that took place in Russia on September 13, 2015. The single voting day is also known as a rehearsal for parliamentary elections in Russia.

Residents of 23 Russian regions went to the polls to elect governors. Some territories elected MPs of local parliaments or legislative assemblies of subjects of the Russian Federation.

About 100 candidates from 16 parties were registered for gubernatorial elections.

With regard to elections of regional governors, the Irkutsk region turned out to be the only region to hold the second round of elections on September 27. Acting Governor Sergey Yeroshchenko (United Russia) gained 49.60 percent of the vote, and his closest rival, Communist Party candidate, Sergei Levchenko, received 36.61 percent of votes.

LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, commenting on the results of gubernatorial elections, said that United Russia might lose four regions. Zhirinovsky said yesterday that the election campaign was "quiet in terms of the general atmosphere."

"Our citizens had the choice, meaning that the campaign was a competitive one. Maybe it was boring for political consultants and political scientists, but it was not boring at all for candidates," secretary of the General Council of United Russia, Sergei Neverov, said commenting on the results of elections. 

The demand for the opposition in the elections is being met with the help of CPRF, LDPR and Just Russia - there are no new parties that can play such a role. 

On Monday, the Russian Central Electoral Commission summed up voter turnout results in the elections on September 13. "The average voter turnout at the elections of governors made up 51.37 percent," said deputy chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission, Leonid Ivlev.

According to him, in 2013, the turnout in the gubernatorial election was 34.37 percent and in 2014 - 46.25 percent.

As for the voter turnout in the elections to regional legislative assemblies, this year it amounted to 42.73 percent (in 2013 it was higher - 43.45 percent and lower in 2014 - 40.44 percent).

Oleg Artyukov

Pravda.Ru 

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