Polls close in Russian parliamentary elections

By Emre Gurkan Abay

MOSCOW (AA) – Polls in Russia’s parliamentary elections closed Sunday with an expected win for President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.

With an economic crisis still lingering, Russian citizens across the country voted to elect 450 members to represent them in the Duma for the next five years, the country’s lower house of parliament.

Nearly 4,500 candidates from 14 parties ran. The average turnout for the election was as low as 39.37 percent; the highest turnout was 78 percent in the Kemerovo region in Russia's Western Siberia.

Voters in the country’s two biggest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, mostly stayed at home; turnout was as low as one-fifth -- the lowest seen over the past 10 years.

Numerous polls before the elections showed nearly 31 percent of Russians said they would back United Russia, which is currently lead by current Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

The pro-Kremlin Communist Party was in second place after United Russia in the polls and another pro-Kremlin group, the Liberal Democratic Party, was in third place.

The People’s Freedom Party, led by former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and the Yabloko Party are also seen as potential competitors.

A party needs to win 266 seats to command a majority in the Duma.

However, results for Duma elections in Crimea -- the first since Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory nearly two years ago -- are not expected to be globally recognized.