Russia Election Results Show Dominance 09/25 06:32

   

   (AP) -- Russian authorities on Friday released the full results from the 
country's first 
https://apnews.com/article/russia-elections-kremlin-putin-5342c2757623f2e46e94b4
c548e94213, which further cemented the Kremlin's overwhelming political control.

   According to the results released by the Central Election Commission, the 
https://apnews.com/article/russia-putin-election-parliament-duma-ukraine-war-91b
6b9c65d52494a09fe8985ecf9fb18, will get more than three-fourths of the seats in 
the lower house, the State Duma, a record high. The 
https://apnews.com/article/russia-putin-election-parliament-duma-ukraine-war-91b
6b9c65d52494a09fe8985ecf9fb18 excluded virtually any genuine opposition.

   Nearly 60% of the 111 million eligible voters turned out in the three-day 
balloting that ended Sunday, the most for a parliamentary election. Authorities 
had spread the voting over three days and allowed online voting in some regions 
to boost participation.

   The parliamentary election was the first since President Vladimir Putin 
launched the 
https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-drones-moscow-5f7889d027c0247ca2c2
c64425b9ffa9 in 2022, and the first to include residents of four regions of 
that country that were 
https://apnews.com/article/russia-parliament-ukraine-vote-election-putin-war-dc5
773facca1bedad04c212ccdc94532 later that year.

   Voting also was held in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 
2014. Kyiv denounced the voting in those regions as illegal.

   Putin declared Wednesday that the election results were a show of public 
support for the Kremlin's policies.

   A massive state media campaign and tight control over the election allowed 
the Kremlin to strengthen its political dominance despite economic troubles and 
long-range Ukrainian drone attacks.

   Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova said that United Russia got 
349 out of 450 Duma seats. It polled 58% of the ballot for the 225 seats 
apportioned by parties and also won 209 single-seat races that fill the other 
half of the chamber.

   Several smaller parties representing the "systemic opposition" that vote in 
line with the Kremlin's wishes on all key issues won 97 seats, and the 
remaining four seats were filled by candidates who ran without a party 
affiliation, Pamfilova said.

   United Russia and other parties said they put dozens of Ukraine war veterans 
on its lists.

   "The experience of our heroes is in demand; the voting results have clearly 
confirmed this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "They will make a 
maximum contribution to the shaping of various initiatives."

   The liberal Yabloko party, the only registered political entity that dared 
to publicly criticize the war, 
https://apnews.com/article/russia-yabloko-political-party-parliament-election-ff
fdd68de22ad70cebc81e5aa308202c last month by Russia's Supreme Court. It only 
had a few dozen candidates in the single-seat races and none of them won a seat.

   
https://apnews.com/article/russia-election-parliament-duma-putin-ukraine-6f3df37
16cbcf8c96711b688762b450b against the backdrop of incessant Ukrainian drone 
attacks. On Sunday, Russia's Defense Ministry reported it downed 1,110 drones 
overnight.

   Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 450 drones were downed while flying toward 
the city on Sunday in what he described as "the largest ever" attack on the 
capital in a failed attempt to disrupt the vote. The attack, which damaged an 
oil refinery and a residential building, killed three people and injured 38 in 
the wider Moscow region, officials said.

   Pamfilova said six polling workers were killed in Ukrainian attacks and 75 
polling stations were damaged or destroyed by shelling during the voting.