Elections to the State Duma of the VIII convocation

The September elections became one of the main political events of the year. Voting took place over three days - from September 17 to 19 - due to sanitary requirements and the desire to reduce queues during the pandemic. In addition, a remote electronic voting system was actively used, in which several regions, including Moscow, participated. At the elections, 14 parties submitted their lists, but only five were able to overcome the five percent barrier. The main result was that the ruling party retained a significant majority. For the authorities, this meant stability and control over the further legislative agenda, including budget decisions, social programs and reforms. The elections were accompanied by discussions about transparency, the role of electronic voting, the admission of opposition candidates and the general level of political competition. However, despite these disputes, the elections themselves took place calmly, without serious incidents, which allowed the formation of a new parliament to begin in October. For the country, the voting results became a signal that the political course would continue without significant changes. Parliament was updated due to the emergence of a new party, but overall retained its traditional composition. Many analysts noted that society in 2021 was more focused on the social agenda and the pandemic than on political activity, which influenced the overall voting results.