The three-day election marathon in the Russian Federation to determine the new composition of the 450-seat State Duma is entering its decisive phase. The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the official tally after the end of the second day of voting (September 19, 2026), reporting that the total voter turnout in the country was reached 44.38%. At the end of the first day (Friday), it was slightly below 30%.
In parallel with the elections for the lower house of parliament, joint elections for governors and local legislative bodies are being held in a number of regions.
Digital pressure and mass online voting in Moscow
A main emphasis in this year's election process is the mass imposition of remote electronic voting (DEG). In the capital Moscow, by the end of the second day, a total of 3.12 million people, but the startling statistics show that barely 400 thousand of them used traditional paper ballots. All the rest cast their votes online. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Opposition media and independent observers note that in many places in Moscow voters were deliberately discouraged from using paper ballots, and electronic voting was administratively presented to them as "main" and "priority" way. Against this anomalous background, the Ministry of Digital Development reported that the turnout on the digital platform DEG has already exceeded 70% of pre-registered users. [1, 2, 3]
The balance sheet of violations: Illegal stuffing and expulsion of observers
Despite statements by the CEC chairwoman Ella Pamfilova that the voting was going on normally and “in a regular mode“, the second day was marked by serious scandals. The Independent Portal The Insider informs about proven cases of ballot stuffing of already filled-in ballot packs, caught directly by cameras in the Republic of Mari El and in the city of Syktyvkar. [1, 2]
“Election commission employees literally took advantage of the moments when observers left the halls to stuff ballots into the ballot boxes“, alarmed opposition MPs. [1]
Additional tension brought the news of mass denial and removal of observers from the „KPRF“ and „Yabloko“ parties. The most similar violations were registered in St. Petersburg, Moscow, as well as in the Tyumen, Voronezh and Leningrad regions, which forced party leaders to send official protest notes to the Central Election Commission. [1]
Voting in the occupied territories and Kursk
For the first time, a parliamentary vote of this magnitude is being held in conditions of full-scale war, with the Kremlin organizing polling stations in the partially occupied Ukrainian regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The authorities in Kiev have strongly condemned the process as completely illegal, and international human rights groups report that the local population in these areas is being forced to vote under threat. In the neighboring Kursk region, election day was temporarily interrupted in some border polling stations due to the threat of drone attacks. [1, 2]
Waiting The final voter turnout and the first preliminary results are expected to start coming out after 9:00 PM tonight (September 20), when the last polling stations in the westernmost Russian exclave - the Kaliningrad region - will close. [1, 2]
You can follow the details of the violations by section and the interim count in real time on the Russian portal RBK (rbc.ru) and in the international chronicles of Reuters (reuters.com).