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Putin's Party Wins Russian Parliamentary Elections; Widespread Complaints of Electoral Fraud
December 8, 2011
By: Mark Hsen | Printer Friendly

Parliamentary elections held on December 4, 2011 indicated growing discontent with Russia's ruling United Russia party.  Voice of America reports that United Russia won slightly less than half the ballots cast with 49.4 percent of the vote, contrasting to its 64.3 percent in 2007.  While United Russia will still remain in control over the Duma, the party lost one quarter of its seats, proving a significant setback for the party. 

While the party won more than 70 percent in Muslim areas, they only received 35 percent in the ethnic Russian heartland.  United Russia only won one third of the vote in St. Petersburg, the hometown of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev.  The Washington Post reports that the party received unwavering support in the Caucasus region.  The party was reported as winning 99.5 percent in Chechnya and 92 percent in Dagestan.

The election was not without controversy with widespread allegations of electoral fraud suggesting that United Russia did even worse than the official count.  European observers such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) indicated distorted results due to ballot stuffing and lack of transparency. 

According to BBC News, the OSCE believed that the election was "well organized" in general, but reported that the contest was "slanted in favor of the ruling party, the election administration lacked independence, most media were partial and state authorities interfered unduly at different levels." BBC News also reports that independent media organizations as well as Golos, Russia's only independent monitoring group, suffered hacker attacks, which disabled them on election day. 

As reported by Voice of America, the OSCE observer mission was also concerned over the lack of separation between the governing party and the state.  Observers reported that state resources were used on behalf of the party during the election campaign.  United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also stated US concerns over the conduct of the vote.

On October 5, more than 5,000 demonstrators gathered around Chistye Prudy Boulevard in Moscow's largest demonstrations in years to protest the results.  It is clear that voters are demanding a change in current political affairs, although it is unclear exactly what direction they want.  United Russia's popularity has declined sharply in the last few years with discontent over the growing disparity of wealth and allegations of official corruption.  There is also discontent over Putin's plan to reclaim the presidency.

On October 8, the New York Times reported that Putin blamed United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the county's post-election riots. Commenting on the US reaction to the poll, Putin stated, "The first thing that the secretary of state did was say that they were not honest and not fair, but she had not even yet received the material from the observers." He further added that Clinton "set the tone for some actors in our country and gave them a signal" to riot.

First elected in 2000, Putin stepped down in 2008 due to term limits.  Immediately after leaving the presidency, he assumed the role of Prime Minister.  Recently, Putin announced his plans to run in the March 2012 presidential election.  If he wins, he can remain in office for an additional 2 terms.  Putin typically maintains a high level of popularity even as popular support for his party has wavered.  Analysts, as reported by the Washington Post, do not believe that his election campaign has been jeopardized despite the party's severe setback in this election. 

For previous news on Russia, please see:
Gorbachev Faults Putin for Crippling Russian Democracy

Sources:
Washington Post – Monitors find Russian elections flawed

Voice of America – Poor Election Showing by Russia's Ruling Party Creates Hurdles for Putin

Voice of America – Thousands Protest 'Fraudulent' Russian Elections

BBC News – Putin's United Russia party suffers poll setback

New York Times - Putin Accuses Clinton of Instigating Russia Protests