Russia's Duma election turnout hits 59.3%, highest since 2007 amid coercion claims

Russia's Central Election Commission reported final turnout of 59.32% for the three-day State Duma vote, the highest level since 2007, handing United Russia a record 355 of 450 seats. Ella Pamfilova, the commission chair, said the second day proceeded without "excesses" despite what she called provocation attempts, and turnout had already topped 40% by day two.

Independent observers and opposition outlets described a different picture. Yabloko and Communist Party monitors were barred from polling stations in Perm, St. Petersburg, and Sakhalin; in St. Petersburg a Yabloko observer was detained violently and lost consciousness. In the Leningrad region, police detained a woman previously blocked from observing.

“The turnout figure is more a work order for the state apparatus than a thermometer of society's enthusiasm or commitment.”

Meduza, citing regional administration sources, reported an internal Kremlin directive to exceed the 50% turnout threshold by the widest possible margin. In Yakutsk, teachers were required to report not only their own voting but also that of their pupils' parents every two hours. In the Altai region, the Communist Party alleged public-sector employees were threatened with dismissal unless they voted, and managers were given name lists to verify.

Deputy CEC chair Nikolai Bulaev said military personnel in the "new territories" voted in an organized manner, calling the first Duma elections there a key turnout driver. He said federal and regional security measures were sufficient to protect voters, commissions, and candidates.

Green Party candidate Yulia Kuznetsova, who had gone missing, reappeared in a Telegram video saying her husband provided psychological support; volunteers searching for her said the video contained oddities and continued their search. In Baikalsk, Irkutsk region, special vehicles ferried voters after a bear-related curfew restricted movement after 7 p.m.