At stake in this election:

• 450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN
• Head of Government: Premier Mikhail Mikhalovich KASYANOV
• Assembly: Russia has a bicameral Federal Assembly (Federalnoye Sobraniye) consisting of the Federation Council (Sovet Federatsii) with 178 seats and the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma) with 450 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term.
• The Premier is appointed by the President.
• In the Federation Council (Sovet Federatsii) 178 members are appointed by regional governing councils to serve 4-year terms*. In the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), 225 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms and 225 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies.**

* Members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 89 federal administrative units.

** There is a 5% threshold in the proportional tier.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Bloc: United Russia*
  • Leader: Boris Vyacheslavovich GRYZLOV and Sergei SHOIGU
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 221
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 141
• Party: The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF)
  • Leader: Gennadiy Andreyavich ZYUGANOV
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 51
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 113
• Party: Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
  • Leader: Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKY
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 36
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 17
• Bloc: Motherland-National Patriotic Union Bloc
  • Leader: Dmitry ROGOZIN and Sergey Y. GLAZIEV
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 37
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: N/A
• Party: Union of Rightist Forces (SPS)
  • Leader: Boris NEMTSOV, Anatoliy Borisovich CHUBAYS, Yegor Timurovich GAYDAR, Irinia Mutsuovna KHAKAMADA
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 3
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 29
• Party: Yabloko Party
  • Leader: Grigorily Aekseyavich YAVLINSKIY
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 4
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 21
• Party: Our Home is Russia (NDR)
  • Leader: Vladimir RYZHKOV
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: N/A
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 7
• Party: Against All Candidates
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 0
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: N/A
• Party: Others
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 98
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: N/A

* United Russia was formed in December 2001 when the Unity (Edinstvo) party merged with the Father-Land All Russia party (OVR) to contest the 2003 elections. The Unity Party secured 73 seats while the OVR secured 68 seats in the last elections.

Last Parliamentary election:

• According to the electoral commission, about 2,030 candidates and 23 electoral associations competed for the 450 seats in the State Duma.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 144,648,257 (2003)
• Registered Voters: 108,906,244 (2003)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 77,180,286 (2003)

·         Is Russia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Russia ratified CEDAW: Yes (23 January 1981)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 45 (State Duma) following the 2003 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 50 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Russia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (24 September 2008)

·         Has Russia ratified CRPD: Yes (25 September 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 21,697,238 (est.)