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Ruling United Russia party in the lead after preliminary results in Russian parliamentary election announced Russia's Communist Party predicted to slash government's majority in first exit poll after voting in parliamentary elections ends
(32 minutes later)
With 9% of the ballots counted in Russia’s parliamentary election, the ruling United Russia party looks set to remain the prime political power in the country for the next five years, leading the pack with 38.7% of the vote. Russia's ruling party is expected to return to government after voting closed in the country's parliamentary elections but, with exit polls predicting gains for the opposition, it is unclear if it will retain its 'super-majority.'
United Russia is followed by the Communist Party (KPRF) party on 25% and the Liberal Democratiic Party (LDPR), who so far have 9.6% of the ballot, according to the preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission. As the final ballots were recorded in Kaliningrad, Russia's westernmost region, a federal exit poll conducted by  research agency INSOMAR found support in United Russia, which attracted more than half of votes in the 2016 election, may have waned. Sampling a total of 438,218 people across 1,455 polling stations, it estimates that the party of government has attracted around 45% of the vote, around 10% lower than last time round.
It also said that the turnout at the election has reached 45.15% as of 6pm Moscow time. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), however, appeared to be set to make substantial gains, with pollsters predicting it may have secured just over 21% of the vote - up from 13% in the previous election. This could mean that United Russia is able to form a government without depending on other parties for support, but that it may lose its constitutional majority that has allowed it to pass fundamental reforms independently.
There are 14 parties vying for 450 seats in the eighth convocation of the State Duma, with only those passing the 5% threshold to be represented in the lower house of the Russian parliament. With fewer than one in ten votes counted, United Russia was on around 38%. The grouping, which supports President Vladimir Putin, is followed by the KPRF on 25% and the far-right LDPR on 9%, according to the preliminary results announced by the Central Election Commission. 'New People,' a centre-right faction contesting its first election has so far polled at 7%, with the leftists of Fair Russia on 6%. Liberal, Western-leaning, Yabloko is below 1%.
Despite losing the sympathy of some of the voters in recent years, United Russia has entered the election as favorite. The party, which backs the policies of President Vladimir Putin, has been dominating the Russian political scene since 2003. It used to hold 343 seats in the last parliament, and is apparently going to maintain the majority in its new iteration. Organisers also said that the turnout at the election has reached 45.15% as of 6pm Moscow time. There are 14 parties vying for 450 seats in the eighth convocation of the State Duma, with only those passing the 5% threshold represented in the lower house of the Russian parliament, on the party list system. However, smaller groups can win seats by topping first-past-the-post contests. 
The Duma is evenly split between mandates secured by the two methods. 
United Russia, which backs the policies of President Vladimir Putin, has dominated the Russian political scene since 2003. It held 343 of the 450 seats in the last parliament. 
Voting has been underway between Friday and Sunday at polling stations across Russia and the country’s embassies abroad.Voting has been underway between Friday and Sunday at polling stations across Russia and the country’s embassies abroad.
It was decided to expand the window from one to three days this time to minimize health risks posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has already infected almost 7.2 million people and killed more than 195,000 in the country.
Residents of Moscow and six other Russian regions were also able to cast their votes online through blockchain-based electronic voting employed at such a high-level election for the first time. Residents of Moscow and six other Russian regions were also able to cast their votes online through blockchain-based electronic voting employed at such a high-level election for the first time. 
The vote count is continuing, with the official outcome of the election to be announced by the commission in no later than two weeks’ time. The vote count is continuing. 
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