Official election results to be announced on December 7 or 8
RBC, 03.12.2007, Moscow 10:49:00.The Central Election Commission plans to announce the official results of Sunday’s parliamentary election on December 7 or 8, 2007, Vladimir Churov, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Russia, told reporters. “If all goes to plan, we will make the formal announcement on December 7 or 8,” he said.
Yabloko party leader likely to contest poll results
RBC, 03.12.2007, Moscow 08:02:37.Yabloko political party leader Grigory Yavlinsky does not rule out the possibility that he may file lawsuits regarding irregularities during the election campaign, he told journalists during a press conference at the party’s headquarters, noting that in his opinion violations of every single article of the election law could be observed during the campaign, including the procedures of drawing up candidate lists, the issuance of absentee ballots, and the opening and closing hours of polling station, among others.
96.2% of ballots counted, United Russia leads with 63.2%
RBC, 03.12.2007, Moscow 09:18:08.With 96.2 percent of the ballots counted, United Russia is leading with 63.2 percent of the vote, and the Communist Party is second with 11.7 percent, Vladimir Churov, Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission, told reporters.
The Liberal Democratic Party has 8.4 percent, Fair Russia has 8 percent, the Agrarian Party has 2.4 percent, Yabloko gained 1.6 percent, the Union of Right Forces (SPS) – 1 percent, and Civil Force has 1.1 percent.
The other three parties – the Democratic Party of Russia, the Social Justice Party and Patriots of Russia – have less than 1 percent of the vote.
United Russia set for landslide win
RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 21:28:12.With 12.3 percent of the ballots counted, United Russia leads in the country’s general parliamentary election with 62.8 percent, Vladimir Churov, chairman of the Central Election Commission, told reporters. The Communist Party comes second, with 11.5 percent, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party with 10.5 percent, Fair Russia with 7.1 percent, the Agrarian Party with 2.5 percent, Yabloko with 1.2 percent, the Union of Right Forces with 1.1 percent, Patriots of Russia with 0.9 percent, Civil Force with 0.9 percent, and Democratic Party of Russia with 0.1 percent.
Four parties qualify for Duma seats, exit polls show
RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 21:18:21.Exit polls held by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) show that four parties, Unified Russia, Communist Party, Liberal Democratic Party and Fair Russia, have overcome the 7-percent threshold winning 61, 11.5, 8.8 and 8.4 percent of the vote respectively. According to VCIOM, turnout was around 59 percent in the parliamentary elections.
The rest of the parties have failed to break the 7-percent barrier, mustering a total of 10.3 percent of votes. According to preliminary estimates, the United Russia party could be awarded 306 seats, the Communist Party 57 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party 45 seats and the Fair Russia 42 seats in the State Duma.
Exit polls were held at 1,200 polling stations across 57 regions and republics of Russia, and the margin of error does not exceed 2 percent.
Polling stations close across Russia
RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 21:10:33.Russia’s parliamentary election has completed all over Russia, with polling stations in the Kaliningrad region closing at 20:00 local time (21:00 Moscow time).
Moscow turnout exceeds half of voting-eligible Muscovites
RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 19:46:52.Moscow has witnessed a 50.04 percent voter turnout in the parliamentary elections as of 7 p.m., according to the Moscow city election commission. No significant problems had been revealed by that time.
Voting monitored by 1m observers
RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 19:39:16.Total number of political party observers is close to 1 million people, Igor Borisov, a member of the Central Election Commission, told reporters. “Observers from political parties are present in almost all polling stations, watching the voting process. Some parties cover 100 percent of polling stations, some less,” he noted.
Borisov said United Russia had sent its observers to 100 percent of polling stations, Fair Russia was second with 50-90 percent depending on the region, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party, Yabloko with 30 percent and the Union of Right Forces, also with 30 percent. Other political parties are represented at separate polling stations, according to Borisov.
He said the Communist Party had reduced the number of its observers compared to the previous parliamentary election of 2003, to 50-100 percent of polls, depending on the region.
Kemerovo closes polling stations
RBC, 02.12.2007, Kemerovo 17:47:08.Voting for the State Duma ended in the Kemerovo region, with the voter turnout at 73 percent an hour before polling stations closed. According to the regional election commission, the region’s residents voted today in 17 local elections of various levels alongside the general elections.
Voting goes to plan in the Far East
RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 17:35:18.Voting in the Far Eastern Federal District has been quiet, with no significant irregularities reported, Alexander Chekalin, Senior Deputy Interior Minister of Russia, told reporters at the information center of the Central Election Commission, citing data of as 4 p.m. Moscow time. He said voting was also going to plan in other federal districts.
Voting over in Krasnoyarsk region
RBC, 02.12.2007, Krasnoyarsk 17:17:14.Parliamentary voting has completed in the Krasnoyarsk region. Turnover stood at 55.85 percent as of 7 p.m. local time (15:00 Moscow time). Konstantin Bocharov, chairman of the regional election commission, said the data did not include figures from several polling stations in the Boguchansk district, due to lack of communication.
St. Petersburg posts higher turnout than in 2003
RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 15:54:47.Six hours after the opening of polling stations, some 20.15 percent of St. Petersburg’s residents had voted in the parliamentary elections, compared to 16.96 percent at the same time during the previous elections in 2003.
Moscow shows lowest turnout in Central Federal District
RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 15:54:32.By 2 p.m., 28.19 percent of voting-age Muscovites had cast their votes, a source in the Moscow election commission said. This is the lowest figure for the Central Federal District, with the Yaroslavl region rising to the first position with 48.11 percent of voters who had taken part in the elections by 2 p.m.
Voting ends in Agin-Buryat Autonomous Area
RBC, 02.12.2007, Chita 15:22:53.The Agin-Buryat Autononmous Area closed polling stations at 2 p.m. Moscow time (8 p.m. local time) to register an 82.1 percent voter turnout, the regional election commission stated.
Chukotka posts highest turnout in Russia’s Far East
RBC, 02.12.2007, Moscow 15:04:53.The Chukotsky Autonomous Area, with 76.67 percent of people coming to polling stations by 7 p.m. local time (10 a.m. Moscow time) boasts the highest turnout in Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District, followed by Yakutia, with 68.52 percent as of 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Moscow time). The Amur region is in third place with a turnout of 67.8 percent.
Chechnya sees nearly 60% percent turnout
RBC, 02.12.2007, Grozny 14:58:50.As of 2 p.m., nearly 60 percent of voting-eligible people cast their votes in Chechnya, the republic’s election committee reported, adding that no complaints had been received from the republics 431 polling stations.
Voting ends in Yakutia!
RBC, 02.12.2007, Yakutsk 14:40:14.Polls closed in the Republic of Yakutia, with a voter turnout of 69 percent as of 8 p.m. local time (12 p.m. Moscow time), the republic’s election commission stated.