United Russia Wins Record Majority in Russian Parliamentary Election

The United Russia party, backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, won a bumper majority. Putin's party won a record 355 of the 450 seats in parliament. According to the AP (Associated Press) report, the Central Election Commission, results from over 95 percent of polling stations showed that the Kremlin's United Russia party received a little less than 58 percent of the 225 seats allocated to the parties. The remaining 225 lawmakers were elected in single-ballot contests, with United Russia's candidates leading in 208 of these. Central Election Commission chairperson Ella Pamfilova said that early results indicated that United Russia won 355 of the 450 seats, the largest ever for the party. This is the first election since the conflict with Ukraine began in February 2022. Putin tied the election to the support of Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. The United Russia party won 324 seats in the 2021 parliamentary elections. The United Russia party was barred from contesting these 450 seats by the United States Senate.