Politics of Russia
Law Constitution Russian Criminal Code Tax Code Mental Health Law
Presidency President Vladimir Putin (list) Presidential Administration Security Council State Council
Executive Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (list) Government First Deputy Prime Minister Deputy Prime Minister Apparatus Cabinet (57th)
Legislature Federal Assembly Federation Council Members Chairwoman:Valentina Matviyenko State Duma Members (8th convocation) Chairman:Vyacheslav Volodin
Judiciary Constitutional Court Supreme Court Prosecutor General Legal system Law enforcement
Elections Central Election Commission Presidential elections Legislative elections Gubernatorial elections Regional elections Local elections Electoral geography Political parties
Federalism Federal subjects Heads of federal subjects Regional parliaments Local government
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister:Sergey Lavrov Diplomatic missions of /in Russia Nationality law Passports Visa requirements Visa policy (history) Russia and the United Nations United Nations Security Council P5 Union State EAEU CIS SCO BRICS APEC EAS G20 United States Finland China India Ukraine EU NATO Arctic policy
Related topics Administrative divisions Armed forces Censorship Civic Chamber Accounts Chamber Human rights Political abuse of psychiatry
Russia portal Other countries
v t e

On the federal level,Russia elects a president ashead of state and a parliament, one of the two chambers of theFederal Assembly. The president is elected for, at most, at least in theory, two consecutive six-year terms by the people (raised from four years from December 2008).^[1] TheFederal Assembly (Federalnoe Sobranie) hastwo chambers. TheState Duma (Gosudarstvennaja Duma) has 450 members, elected for five-year terms (also four years up to December 2008). TheFederation Council (Sovet Federatsii) is not directly elected; each of the 89federal subjects of Russia sends 2 delegates to the Federal Council, for a total of 208 (178 (delegates from regions) + 30 (Russian representatives), members.^[2]

Since 1990, there have been seven elections for the presidency and seven for parliament. In the seven presidential elections, only once, in 1996, has a second round been needed. There have been three presidents, withBoris Yeltsin elected in 1991 and 1996,Vladimir Putin in 2000, 2004, 2012, 2018 and 2024,Dmitry Medvedev in 2008. The Communist candidate (of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union or theCommunist Party of the Russian Federation) has finished second in every case:Nikolai Ryzhkov in 1991,Gennady Zyuganov in 1996, 2000 and 2008 and 2011,Nikolay Kharitonov in 2004 andPavel Grudinin in 2018. Only in 1996 has there been a third candidate who gained more than 10% of the votes in the first round,Alexander Lebed.

In the parliamentary elections, the Communist Party was the largest party in the 1995 and 1999 elections, with 35% and 24% of the votes respectively. TheLiberal Democratic Party of Russia has ranged from 5 to 15% of the votes, andYabloko won 10% of the votes in 1995 and around 5% in the other three elections. The only other parties that have achieved more than 10% of the votes have beenDemocratic Choice of Russia with 16% in 1993,Our Home – Russia with 12% in 1995, and, in 1999,Unity with 23%,Fatherland – All Russia with 13% and People's Deputies Faction with 15%.United Russia, an alliance of Unity and Fatherland – All Russia, became the biggest party with 38% in 2003.

Elections in Russia have been criticized asunfair elections underPutin's rule. Political opponents have charges dug up and are jailed and repressed,independent media is intimidated and suppressed, and the elections have been claimed asfraudulent.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}The Economist Democracy Index characterized Russia asauthoritarian in 2022.^[8] Russia was ranked 22nd least electoraldemocratic country in Asia according toV-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.209 out of 1.^[9][10]

The United States criticized voting during2024 Russian presidential election in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and would "never recognize the legitimacy or outcome of these sham elections held in sovereign Ukraine." TheUN Security Council condemned the election held in occupied territories of Ukraine and the UN deputy secretary-generalRosemary DiCarlo stated that “holding elections in another UN member state’s territory without its consent is in manifest disregard for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” and were “invalid”.^[11] Ukraine's ambassador to theUnited NationsSergiy Kyslytsya released a joint statement on behalf of Ukraine, theEuropean Union, US and 56 other countries condemning the holding of these elections in occupied parts of Ukraine.^[12]

The Ukrainian foreign ministry called "to refrain from referring to this farce as 'elections' in the language of democratic states."^[13]European Council presidentCharles Michel congratulated Putin for winning the election before the election officially concluded, adding that there was "No opposition. No freedom. No choice.”^[14]

In the 2021 State Duma elections, the Putin appointed government headed byMikhail Mishustin prevented OSCE observers from taking part in Russian elections. Citing COVID-19 restrictions, officials severely restricted their capacity and access.^[15][16][17]

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	United Russia	28,064,200	50.88	126	25,201,048	47.46	198	324	–19
	Communist Party	10,660,669	19.33	48	8,984,506	16.92	9	57	+15
	Liberal Democratic Party	4,252,252	7.71	19	3,234,113	6.09	2	21	–18
	A Just Russia — For Truth	4,201,744	7.62	19	4,882,518	9.19	8	27	+4
	New People	2,997,744	5.43	13	2,684,082	5.05	0	13	New
	Russian Party of Pensioners for Social Justice	1,381,915	2.51	0	1,969,986	3.71	0	0	0
	Yabloko	753,268	1.37	0	1,091,837	2.06	0	0	0
	Communists of Russia	715,621	1.30	0	1,639,774	3.09	0	0	0
	Russian Ecological Party "The Greens"	512,418	0.93	0	541,289	1.02	0	0	0
	Rodina	450,449	0.82	0	829,303	1.56	1	1	0
	Russian Party of Freedom and Justice	431,530	0.78	0	372,867	0.70	0	0	New
	Green Alternative	357,870	0.65	0	120,137	0.23	0	0	New
	Party of Growth	291,465	0.53	0	515,020	0.97	1	1	+1
	Civic Platform	86,964	0.16	0	386,663	0.73	1	1	0
	Independents				646,950	1.22	5	5	+4
Total		55,158,109	100.00	225	53,100,093	100.00	225	450	0
Valid votes		55,158,109	97.92		53,100,093	96.52
Invalid/blank votes		1,171,581	2.08		1,913,578	3.48
Total votes		56,329,690	100.00		55,013,671	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		109,204,662	51.58		108,231,085	50.83

In 2015, the OSCE called on the Russian government to respect and support the work of independent election observers. This followed a number of incidents where citizen observers were beaten or harassed during regional elections.^[18] There were also accusations of widespread voter nudging to increase attendance in unpopular or controversial votes by offering financial bonuses for everyone attending, such as free food, toys, etc.^[19]

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	United Russia	28,527,828	55.23	140	25,162,770	50.12	203	343	+105
	Communist Party	7,019,752	13.59	35	6,492,145	12.93	7	42	−50
	Liberal Democratic Party	6,917,063	13.39	34	5,064,794	10.09	5	39	−17
	A Just Russia	3,275,053	6.34	16	5,017,645	10.00	7	23	−41
	Communists of Russia	1,192,595	2.31	0	1,847,824	3.68	0	0	New
	Yabloko	1,051,335	2.04	0	1,323,793	2.64	0	0	0
	Russian Party of Pensioners for Justice	910,848	1.76	0				0	New
	Rodina	792,226	1.53	0	1,241,642	2.47	1	1	New
	Party of Growth	679,030	1.31	0	1,171,259	2.33	0	0	0
	The Greens	399,429	0.77	0	770,076	1.53	0	0	New
	People's Freedom Party	384,675	0.74	0	530,862	1.06	0	0	New
	Patriots of Russia	310,015	0.60	0	704,197	1.40	0	0	0
	Civic Platform	115,433	0.22	0	364,100	0.73	1	1	New
	Civilian Power	73,971	0.14	0	79,922	0.16	0	0	New
	Independents				429,051	0.85	1	1	+1
Total		51,649,253	100.00	225	50,200,080	100.00	225	450	0
Valid votes		51,649,253	98.13		50,200,080	96.60
Invalid/blank votes		982,596	1.87		1,767,725	3.40
Total votes		52,631,849	100.00		51,967,805	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		110,061,200	47.82		109,636,794	47.40

The2011 Russian legislative elections were considered to be rigged in favor of the ruling party by a number ofjournalists and opposition representatives.^[20] However public opinion-polls prior to the election suggested that the ruling party could count on the support of 45–55 percent of voters, which may suggest that there were no mass falsifications, despite isolated cases of fraud.^[21] Nationwide exit polls were very close to the final results.^[22]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	United Russia	32,379,135	50.10	238	–77
	Communist Party	12,599,507	19.50	92	+35
	A Just Russia	8,695,522	13.46	64	+26
	Liberal Democratic Party	7,664,570	11.86	56	+16
	Yabloko	2,252,403	3.49	0	0
	Patriots of Russia	639,119	0.99	0	0
	Right Cause	392,806	0.61	0	0
Total		64,623,062	100.00	450	0
Valid votes		64,623,062	98.43
Invalid/blank votes		1,033,464	1.57
Total votes		65,656,526	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		109,237,780	60.10

Since 1999, whenVladimir Putin became President of Russia there has been increasing international criticism of the conduct of Russian elections.^[23] European institutions who observed theDecember 2007 legislative elections concluded that these were not fair elections.Göran Lennmarker, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said that the elections "failed to meet many of the commitments and standards that we have. It was not a fair election."^[24]Luc Van den Brande, who headed a delegation from theCouncil of Europe, referred to the "overwhelming influence of the president's office and the president on the campaign" and said there was "abuse of administrative resources" designed to influence the outcome. He also said there were "flaws in the secrecy of the vote." "Effectively, we can't say these were fair elections," he said at a news conference.^[25]

In February 2008, the human rights organisationAmnesty International said that thepresidential election on 2 March would not be a genuine election: "There is no real opposition ahead of the election. There is no real electoral campaign battle," Friederike Behr, Amnesty's Russia researcher, was quoted as saying^{[citation needed]}. In a report on the elections, Amnesty said laws restricting non-government organizations,police breaking updemonstrations, and harassment from critics were all part of "a systematic destruction of civil liberties in Russia."^[26] Another human rights organisation,Freedom House, said that the victory of Putin's party in the 2007 elections "was achieved under patently unfair and non-competitive conditions calling into doubt the result’s legitimacy."^[27]

The Russian government has acted to prevent international observers monitoring Russian elections. In 2007 the OSCE was prevented from monitoring thelegislative elections held in December.^[28] In February 2008 the EuropeanOffice for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights announced that it would not send observers to monitor the presidential election on 2 March, citing what it called "severe restrictions" imposed on its work by the Russian government. "We made every effort in good faith to deploy our mission, even under the conditions imposed by the Russian authorities", said Christian Strohal, the organization's director. "The Russian Federation has created limitations that are not conducive to undertaking election observation".^[29] The OSCE has also withdrawn its attempts to monitor the elections.

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	United Russia	22,776,294	38.16	120	14,123,625	23.95	103	223	New
	Communist Party	7,647,820	12.81	40	6,577,598	11.15	12	52	−61
	Liberal Democratic Party	6,944,322	11.64	36	1,860,905	3.16	0	36	+19
	National Patriotic Union "Rodina"	5,470,429	9.17	29	1,719,147	2.92	8	37	New
	Yabloko	2,610,087	4.37	0	1,580,629	2.68	4	4	−16
	Union of Right Forces	2,408,535	4.04	0	1,764,290	2.99	3	3	−26
	Agrarian Party	2,205,850	3.70	0	1,104,974	1.87	2	2	New
	Russian Pensioners' Party–Party of Social Justice	1,874,973	3.14	0	342,891	0.58	0	0	−1
	Party of Russia's Rebirth–Russian Party of Life	1,140,413	1.91	0	1,584,904	2.69	3	3	New
	People's Party	714,705	1.20	0	2,677,889	4.54	17	17	New
	Conceptual Party "Unity"	710,721	1.19	0	9,334	0.02	0	0	New
	New Course — Automobile Russia	509,302	0.85	0	222,090	0.38	1	1	New
	For a Holy Russia	298,826	0.50	0	59,986	0.10	0	0	New
	Russian Ecological Party "The Greens"	253,985	0.43	0	69,585	0.12	0	0	0
	Development of Enterprise	212,827	0.36	0	237,527	0.40	1	1	New
	Great Russia – Eurasian Union	170,796	0.29	0	464,602	0.79	1	1	New
	Genuine Patriots of Russia	149,151	0.25	0	2,564	0.00	0	0	New
	Party of Peace and Unity	148,954	0.25	0	10,664	0.02	0	0	0
	United Russian Party Rus'	147,441	0.25	0	570,453	0.97	0	0	New
	Democratic Party	136,295	0.23	0	94,810	0.16	0	0	New
	Russian Constitutional Democratic Party	113,190	0.19	0				0	New
	Union of People for Education and Science	107,448	0.18	0	16,111	0.03	0	0	New
	People's Republican Party	80,420	0.13	0	2,995	0.01	0	0	New
	Other				288,866	0.49	0	0	−156
	Independents				15,843,626	26.86	67	67	−38
Against all		2,851,958	4.78	0	7,744,998	13.13	0	0	−8
Vacant seats							3	3	+2
Total		59,684,742	100.00	225	58,975,063	100.00	225	450	0
Valid votes		59,684,742	98.44		58,975,063	97.93
Invalid/blank votes		948,435	1.56		1,247,491	2.07
Total votes		60,633,177	100.00		60,222,554	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		108,906,250	55.67		108,906,250	55.30

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Liberal Democratic Party of Russia	12,318,562	22.92	59	1,604,785	3.04	5	64
	Choice of Russia	8,339,345	15.51	37	3,608,497	6.84	25	62
	Communist Party of the Russian Federation	6,666,402	12.40	32	1,848,888	3.50	10	42
	Women of Russia	4,369,918	8.13	22	309,378	0.59	2	24
	Agrarian Party of Russia	4,292,518	7.99	22	2,879,410	5.46	16	38
	Yavlinsky–Boldyrev–Lukin	4,223,219	7.86	20	1,854,447	3.52	7	27
	Party of Russian Unity and Accord	3,620,035	6.73	19	1,433,158	2.72	3	22
	Democratic Party of Russia	2,969,533	5.52	14	1,142,830	2.17	1	15
	Russian Democratic Reform Movement	2,191,505	4.08	0	1,038,068	1.97	4	4
	Civic Union	1,038,193	1.93	0	1,591,476	3.02	7	7
	Future of Russia–New Names	672,283	1.25	0	411,426	0.78	1	1
	Constructive-Ecological Movement "Kedr"	406,789	0.76	0	301,266	0.57	0	0
	Dignity and Charity	375,431	0.70	0	445,168	0.84	3	3
	Independents				26,171,737	49.61	135	135
Against all		2,267,963	4.22	–	8,117,106	15.39	–	–
Vacant							6	6
Total		53,751,696	100.00	225	52,757,640	100.00	225	450
Valid votes		53,751,696	93.19
Invalid/blank votes		3,928,002	6.81
Total votes		57,679,698	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		106,170,835	54.33		106,170,835	–

The President is elected in atwo-round system every six years, with a limit of two consecutive terms.^[30] Prior to 2012, the term of office was four years. If no candidate wins by anabsolute majority in the first round, a second election round is held between two candidates with the most votes.^[30] Thelast presidential election was in 2024 and the next is expected in 2030.^[31]

Presidency in the Russian Federation is subject to the articles 80-93 of the Russian Constitution, the information provided in these articles is explanatory to the system of elections in Russia, and the main points to be highlighted are the following:

• The president is elected on basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage through secret ballots.
• The president is to be elected for a term of six years
• Any citizen of the Russian Federation with 35 or more years of age and that has had a permanent residence for at least 25 years in Russia can run for the presidency in Russia.
• The same person may not be elected President of the Russian Federation for more than two terms running.^[32]
• Not have foreign citizenship or residence permit in a foreign country, neither at the time of the election nor at any time before.

Legislative elections take place in Russia's 89 subjects of federation ranging from oblasts, republics, autonomous territories, and autonomous okrugs.^[33]

The elections for the State Duma of Russia are held every five years, and the dispute is for the 450 seats of the Parliament according to amixed-member majoritarian representation. Half of the seats are allocated through a proportional representation party list voting, with a threshold of 5%. The other half is appointed through majority voting, where one deputy is elected for one constituency. Regional assemblies with their respective deputies are formed through this system. The legislative body of Russia (the Federation Council and the State Duma) are subject to the articles 94-109 of the constitution, and these explain important points about the elections for the parliament in Russia, these are:

• The State Duma (lower house) is elected for a term of 5 years.
• Any citizen of the Russian Federation who is at least 21 years old can be a candidate.
• The president is to call the elections for the State Duma, in accordance with the Constitution.
• The Council of the Federation includes two representatives from each subject of the Russian Federation: one from the legislative and one from the executive body of state authority.^[34]

In May 2012 President Medvedev signed a new legislation exempting political parties from the need to collect signatures to run in parliamentary elections.^{[citation needed]}

Regional elections in Russia are held annually, with most scheduled on the Single Voting Day (Russian:Единый день голосования,romanized: Yedinyy den' golosovaniya), which typically falls on the second Sunday of September. This day serves as a standardized date for holding elections across the country and was formally established by federal law in 2012. However, the exact date can vary each year, as it is officially designated by a presidential decree.^[35]

Regional elections generally include both gubernatorial and regional parliamentary races. In certain cases — such as early resignations, dissolutions, or the formation of new administrative units — elections may be held outside the Single Voting Day framework, in accordance with Russian electoral law.

Gubernatorial elections are held yearly and are to be called upon by the president. These happen in September, by default, on the second Sunday of the month, but the timing is not always exact. Campaigning starts 28 days prior to the election.^[36][37]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(September 2013)

The two main systems of local government includeMayor–council government in which voters cast their ballot for the mayor who represents the executive branch, and another ballot for thecity council. The other system isCouncil–manager government with acity manager, who is nominated by and accountable to theCity Duma.

Elections for mayors in Russia are held in a small number of cities. In 2018, 12% of all cities and municipalities elected their mayors, as opposed to 65% in 2006; i.e. in the span of 12 years mayoral elections were halved.^[38] Out of the subjects' capitals, only 9 of 83^{[clarification needed]} and (as of 2023) six 'major cities' have direct mayoral elections.^[39] In those cities, elections for mayors are direct and based on universal suffrage. The executions of mayoral elections are dependent upon higher administrative authorities, and, for instance, can be cancelled by governors.^[40][41]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(September 2013)

1993 (Constitution of 1993) – Article 97: Elections in Russia are direct, subject to universal suffrage, and free and fair

1995 – Amendment Article 97: Parties are now required to gather at least 200000 signatures and to sign for candidature no later than 6 months before the elections.^[42]

1998 – Constitutional Court Judgement 26-P: 5% threshold is upheld by the Russian constitutional court

2002 – Law number 175: Mixed election of the state Duma is implemented with 50% of seats elected by a majority system for single-seat district votes (one deputy-one seat), and the other 50% through a proportional representation party list voting scheme.^[43]

2003 – Mixed system is abolished for a fully proportional representation system, with a 7% threshold.

2013 – Putin requires a return to the old mixed system, making elections for parliament being subject to Law number 175 once again.^[44]

Since thedissolution of the Soviet Union, three successive administrations (Boris Yeltsin,Vladimir Putin, andDmitry Medvedev) have played a significant role in forming a Russia's party system that has been characterized by the domination of a ruling party which is financed and staffed by choice of the current presidential administration, and which in return provides support to it to serve its interests.^[45]

One study from Reuter et al. referred to criticism of mayoral and local self-government election in Russia. Findings being indicated that mayor candidates opposing the present ruling party,United Russia, had their elections cancelled more easily than those that could promote support for the ruling party.^[41]

Russia is in a period ofautocratization starting around 2020 according toV-Dem Institute Democracy Report due to furthercensorship in Russia.^[46]

Electoral fraud andunfair elections were claimed by a study from Enikolopov et al., where observers were strategically placed at polling stations to see the effect of their presence on United Russia's vote shares. Findings reveal that with observers, United Russia experienced an 11% loss in share of votes for the poll chosen.^[47]

• Elections in the Soviet Union
• Freedom of assembly in Russia
• List of banned political parties#Russia
• Russian opposition
• Red Belt (Russia)
• Russian Republic
  • 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election
• Term limits in Russia

Wikimedia Commons has media related toElections in Russia.

Wikiquote has quotations related toElections in Russia.

• OSCE reports on elections in Russia
• Geo-electoral structure of Russia (N.Grishin)
• Russia uses modern election technologies

• Elections in Russia

• Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from February 2022
• CS1: unfit URL
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from November 2020
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from May 2022
• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2020
• Articles containing Russian-language text
• Articles to be expanded from September 2013
• All articles to be expanded
• Wikipedia articles needing clarification from February 2024
• Commons category link is on Wikidata