Politics News
United Russia claims a record Duma supermajority, with seat counts from 349 to 355
Russia's ruling party United Russia won a landslide in the State Duma election held from September 18 to 20. Al Jazeera, with over 90% of ballots counted, gave it 57.86% of the party-list vote, followed by the Communists (13.84%), LDPR (8.9%), New People (7.94%) and A Just Russia (4.95%). Turnout was just below 57% on Sunday night, it said, and more than 3.6 million people voted online.
Pakistan's ARY News reported preliminary figures released on Monday, September 21, giving United Russia a record 355 of 450 seats, above its 2016 high of 343, with the Communists on 40, LDPR 25 and New People 20. It quoted election chief Ella Pamfilova putting turnout above 59% and thanking Russians for voting despite “psychological pressure.”
How each outlet framed it
- Al Jazeera — the conditions: a tightly controlled vote, most antiwar candidates barred, two senior Yabloko figures jailed, and voting held in occupied Ukrainian regions that Kyiv called illegal.
- ARY News — the official numbers and the record, largely through the election commission's statements.
- Georgia Today — a neighbour's tracking of the final count, headlining 349 seats from the Central Election Commission.
Where the numbers differ: ARY News reported 355 seats from the preliminary count; a later Georgia Today headline cited the commission at 349. Turnout was given as just below 57% by Al Jazeera and above 59% by Pamfilova.
What we don't know yet: Al Jazeera did not report specific findings from independent observers.