“Rig the vote or be shipped off to war”: How United Russia "won" its electoral victory in Voronezh
From the Kremlin's perspective, one of the top performers in the 2026 State Duma elections was leadership of the Voronezh Region, where the ruling United Russia party claimed a whopping 72% of the vote. Only four national republics – Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia and Tuva – and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine posted higher figures. In previous years, Voronezh — the second-most…
United Russia's electoral victory in Voronezh was achieved through manipulation and intimidation, according to a former election official. The ruling party's share of the vote increased from 58% in 2016 to a record 72% in 2026. The regional election commission, led by Ilya Ivanov, set targets for vote share and turnout, which were enforced by the mayor.
The Communist Party representative was replaced, and several other key positions were filled by individuals with little to no experience in elections. These new commission chairs were intimidated or threatened with deportation to Ukraine if they failed to deliver the desired results. Election monitoring was dismantled the day before the vote, and Communist Party observers were barred from polling stations.
In their place, foreign students with no election observer status were brought in as a front. The main manipulation occurred in the first few days, where ballot boxes were stuffed with the required number of ballots and signatures of non-existent voters were forged. This resulted in United Russia winning 72% of the vote in Voronezh, a significant increase from previous years.
Written by urgent.news from The Insider's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
