About 60% of Paper Votes for United Russia Might be Fabricated

According to preliminary results from Russia’s Central Election Commission, the ruling United Russia party is projected to secure approximately 58% of the vote. This would mark a significant victory for the party, as it would hold the largest number of seats in the State Duma – a total of 355 out of 450. United Russia currently leads the race, followed by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) with 14%, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) with 9%, New People (8%), and A Just Russia (5%).

However, a detailed investigation by IStories suggests that United Russia's actual vote share may be as low as 35%. This discrepancy is attributed to potential voter fraud, which includes ballot stuffing, voter coercion, ballot tampering, and other irregularities. These violations were widespread, with observers being denied access, beaten, detained, and prohibited from recording videos. In fact, about 60% of the "paper" votes for United Russia could be fabricated, according to the investigation.

The 2026 State Duma elections were held using the new GAS Vybory 2.0 system, which has been criticized for allowing potential tampering and fraud. Several anomalies were identified through statistical analysis. The actual turnout is believed to have been around 40% rather than the reported 59.32%, which is a record for State Duma elections since 2011. Analysts believe that the genuine turnout was considerably lower, at around 40%.

The investigation's findings indicate that the Kremlin's war-time election tactics have resulted in a result more typical of dictatorships in Latin America and Central Asia. Analysts suggest that the actual turnout and vote share are significantly lower than the official figures indicate.