Overview
- Russian authorities held a three-day vote from September 18 to 20, 2026 that state exit polls say gives Russia Unita a decisive win and turnout higher than 2021.
- The liberal party Yabloko was barred from the ballot and its deputy leader was sentenced, while independent monitors such as Golos have been shut down and the OSCE was barred from observing.
- Election officials and local bosses used administrative pressure on state employees, including demands to photograph ballots as proof of voting, to push support for Russia Unita.
- Authorities combined classic fraud with newer tools to shape results, including multi-day voting, online vote channels that analysts say are vulnerable, and reported alteration or misreporting of tallies.
- Moscow counted votes in annexed Crimea and occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, where witnesses reported armed door-to-door mobilization to secure ballots, a step that broadens Moscow’s claimed mandate and tightens internal regime control.