Pre-election manipulation and electoral fraud
The next parliamentary elections in Russia to renew the State Duma (the lower house of parliament) are due to take place on 20 September. Voting will take place over three days – from 18 to 20 September 2026 – under a mixed system: 225 deputies will be elected from party lists and 225 from single-member constituencies. The country’s presidential election took place in March 2024, when Vladimir Putin was re-elected for a new six-year term with a record 87.28 per cent of the vote.
Although public opinion polls during wartime are difficult to verify independently, support for ‘United Russia’ currently stands at almost 34 per cent, having fallen to 29.3 per cent in March, compared with around 40 per cent following the start of the war in 2022, according to data from VCIOM.
However, a survey by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny puts support for ‘United Russia’ at just 16 per cent.
Putin’s approval rating, who officially led the party between 2008 and 2012, also shows signs of decline — but even according to the most unfavourable polls, it has never fallen below 65 per cent. Has it?
