Legislative elections will be held in Russia on 19 September 2021. At stake are 450 seats in the State Duma of the 8th convocation, the lower house of the Federal Assembly. Going into the elections, United Russia is the ruling party after winning the 2016 elections with 54.2% of the vote, taking 343 seats.

In March 2020, it was proposed to hold a snap election in September 2020 due to constitutional reforms that were proposed, but this idea was abandoned. On 18 June 2021, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree calling the election for 19 September. Due to the pandemic, according to the decision of the Central Election Commission, voting in the elections will last for three days from 17 to 19 September.

15 political parties have submitted documents for participation in the election. 14 of them are guaranteed automatic access to the election ballot. And one more party is seeking inclusion in the ballot by collecting signatures of voters.

Sources and further reading:

In the Duma election campaign, Putin is in survival mode

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/7/6/in-the-duma-election-campaign-putin-is-in-survival-mode

Russia excludes senior Communist candidate from parliamentary vote

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-excludes-senior-communist-candidate-parliamentary-vote-2021-07-24/

As Sweeping Crackdown Intensifies, Russians Wonder What Comes Next

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-kremlin-crackdown-analysis/31393446.html