Editing Elections in Russia (section)

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{{use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{politics of Russia|expanded=Elections}}
On the federal level, [[Russia]] elects a president as [[head of state]] and a parliament, one of the two chambers of the [[Federal Assembly (Russia)|Federal Assembly]]. The president is elected for, at most, two consecutive six-year terms by the people (raised from four years from December 2008).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-05.htm |title=The This is no longer the case with Putins recent extension of a 3rd term. Constitution of the Russian Federation |publisher=Garant Service |access-date=14 February 2012}}</ref> The [[Federal Assembly (Russia)|Federal Assembly]] (''Federalnoe Sobranie'') has [[Bicameralism|two chambers]]. The [[State Duma]] (''Gosudarstvennaja Duma'') has 450 members, elected for five-year terms (also four years up to December 2008). The [[Federation Council of Russia|Federation Council]] (''Sovet Federatsii'') is not directly elected; each of the 89 [[federal subjects of Russia]] sends 2 delegates to the Federal Council, for a total of 208 (178 (delegates from regions) + 30 (Russian representatives), members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-06.htm |title=The Constitution of the Russian Federation |publisher=Garant Service |access-date=17 May 2019}}</ref>

Since 1990, there have been seven elections for the presidency and seven for parliament. In the seven presidential elections, only once, in 1996, has a second round been needed. There have been three presidents, with [[Boris Yeltsin]] elected in 1991 and 1996, [[Vladimir Putin]] in 2000, 2004, 2012, 2018  and 2024, [[Dmitry Medvedev]] in 2008. The Communist candidate (of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] or the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]]) has finished second in every case: [[Nikolai Ryzhkov]] in 1991, [[Gennady Zyuganov]] in 1996, 2000 and 2008 and 2011, [[Nikolay Kharitonov]] in 2004 and [[Pavel Grudinin]] in 2018. Only in 1996 has there been a third candidate who gained more than 10% of the votes in the first round, [[Alexander Lebed]].

In the parliamentary elections, the Communist Party was the largest party in the 1995 and 1999 elections, with 35% and 24% of the votes respectively. The [[LDPR (political party)|Liberal Democratic Party of Russia]] has ranged from 5 to 15% of the votes, and [[Yabloko]] won 10% of the votes in 1995 and around 5% in the other three elections. The only other parties that have achieved more than 10% of the votes have been [[Democratic Choice of Russia]] with 16% in 1993, [[Our Home – Russia]] with 12% in 1995, and, in 1999, [[Unity (Russian political party)|Unity]] with 23%, [[Fatherland – All Russia]] with 13% and People's Deputies Faction with 15%. [[United Russia]], an alliance of Unity and Fatherland – All Russia, became the biggest party with 38% in 2003.

Elections in Russia have been criticized as [[unfair election]]s under [[Russia under Vladimir Putin|Putin's rule]]. Political opponents have charges dug up and are jailed and repressed, [[Freedom of the press|independent media]] is intimidated and suppressed, and the elections have been claimed as [[Electoral fraud|fraudulent]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Levitsky |first1=Steven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZDI05p1PDgC |title=Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War |last2=Way |first2=Lucan A. |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49148-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Geddes |first1=Barbara |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/how-dictatorships-work/8DC095F7A890035729BB0BB611738497 |title=How Dictatorships Work: Power, Personalization, and Collapse |last2=Wright |first2=Joseph |last3=Frantz |first3=Erica |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-11582-8 |location=Cambridge}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{cite book |last=Gill |first=Graeme |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/russian-and-east-european-government-politics-and-policy/building-authoritarian-polity-russia-post-soviet-times?format=HB&isbn=9781107130081 |title=Building an Authoritarian Polity: Russia in Post-Soviet Times |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-107-13008-1 |edition=hardback}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Reuter |first=Ora John |url=http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ref/id/CBO9781316761649 |title=The Origins of Dominant Parties: Building Authoritarian Institutions in Post-Soviet Russia |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-76164-9 |edition=E-book |doi=10.1017/9781316761649}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Frye |first=Timothy |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691212463/weak-strongman |title=Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-691-21246-3 |page={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}}</ref> [[The Economist Democracy Index]] characterized Russia as [[authoritarian]] in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Democracy Index 2022: Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine |url=https://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/DI-final-version-report.pdf |website=[[Economist Intelligence Unit]] |page=3 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Russia was ranked 22nd least electoral [[Democracy in Asia|democratic country in Asia]] according to [[V-Dem Democracy indices]] in 2023 with a score of 0.209 out of 1.<ref name="vdem_dataset">{{cite web |last=V-Dem Institute |date=2023 |title=The V-Dem Dataset |url=https://www.v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ |access-date=14 October 2023}}</ref><ref name="vdem report">[https://www.v-dem.net/documents/29/V-dem_democracyreport2023_lowres.pdf Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023]</ref>