Russian Elections – How Russia’s Ruling Party Won A Majority Again

Russia just held its first parliamentary election since launching its SMO in Ukraine in February 2022. For the first time in a State Duma election, Russian authorities set up balloting boxes in four Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian troops and claimed by Moscow as Russian territory. Officially United Russia had 57.8% with 90% counted and a larger supermajority in the 450-seat house. High-turnout stations systematically reported much higher UR shares—a two-peak “comet,” not a single bell curve—unlike other parties. The model’s “honest core” implies about 35% and some 18 million extra UR votes if high turnout had not come…