Putin’s Party Wins Landslide Victory

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party overwhelmed the general election in the State Duma with 64.1% of the vote Sunday.

The United Russia party is expected to win a quorum for constitutional reform (requiring two-thirds of registered lawmakers). This is the first time that the ruling party would qualify for quorum since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

According to preliminary results, the Communists won 11.6% of the vote, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party with 9.4% and the Just Russia Party with 7.6%.

Putin, the number one candidate in the national race, is going to retire from politics before the official results are released, and will appoint his successor at the party convention scheduled for December 17.

Meanwhile, Russian election supervisory organizations claim that the UR forced workers to vote.

The White House also called for an investigation Sunday, saying, “There have been reports of illegal activities on the election day.”

viyonz@donga.com