The CEC also told reporters that voter turnout, the first day of the elections, stood at 29.75 percent.

Elections of lawmakers to the ninth convocation of the State Duma are taking place from September 18 to 20.

Residents of the Donbas regions (Donetsk and Luhansk) and Novorossiya (Kherson and Zaporizhzhia) are participating for the first time.

Ten parties, including United Russia party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party, the New People party, the A Just Russia party, the Party of Pensioners for Social Justice, Communists of Russia, the Rodina (Motherland) party, the Russian Ecological Party “The Greens,” and the Party of Direct Democracy, appear on the electoral lists.

The country also holds elections for the legislative assemblies of 39 regions, as well as for the top leadership positions of Russia’s constituent entities: directly in eight regions and via election by regional parliaments in three.

An estimated 23,000 seats are up for election.

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