Election update X
07.02.2025
In its regular Electoral Bulletin, a digest with news about Russian elections (all issues in Russian are available here), the Movement in Defense of Voter’s Rights ’Golos’ reports on how Russian authorities are preparing for the 2025 regional elections and the 2026 State Duma elections.
In this review, REM summarizes the most significant electoral events of early 2025.
1. The last major elections before the State Duma campaign will take place in 2025
This year's regional elections are essentially a prelude to the State Duma elections, which are scheduled for 2026. The Unified Voting Day on 14 September 2025 will be the last opportunity for parties to gain or lose the so-called "parliamentary privilege" (in Russia's electoral system, the right to nominate candidates without collecting signatures) or to test certain topics and strategies. This also extends to the electoral commission system and political administrators from government bodies.
As of now, 56 major election campaigns are scheduled for September 2025, although this number is subject to fluctuation, as governors often get dismissed in spring. The current list of upcoming campaigns includes:
- four campaigns for by-elections of State Duma deputies
- 17 direct gubernatorial elections
- elections of deputies in 11 regional parliaments
- 24 councils of regional capitals.
The 'Golos' movement observes a steady decline in political activity: over the past three years, the number of people willing to run for elections at all levels has gradually decreased, while many parties have “fallen into a coma”. This narrowing of the spectrum ultimately affects voters’ ability to choose a candidate or party that suits them.
“The years preceding parliamentary elections usually demonstrate a revival on the political scene. Perhaps this will help break the bad trend of people in Russia distancing themselves from public politics,” Golos experts note.
2. Preparation for the 2026 State Duma elections
- Changes in single-member constituencies
The Central Election Commission (CEC) is preparing a new division of single-member districts for the elections of State Duma deputies.
According to the CEC, over the past 10 years, the number of voters has increased from 110 to 112 million people. However, this did not result from a demographic boom but from the occupation and annexation of Ukrainian territories, since now they are also entitled to parliamentary seats in the State Duma. Based on the official voter count, annexed regions could get nine Duma mandates. In addition, new districts may be assigned to regions where the number of voters has significantly increased — Chechnya, Krasnodar Krai, and Moscow Oblast. These mandates will have to be taken from other regions.
"By cutting up districts, it is possible to influence the election results. For example, last time the authorities used "petal cutting" (dividing large cities and adding vast rural areas to them), which significantly reduced the representation of opposition-minded urban residents in the State Duma. This time, it will be possible to abolish some of the districts won by the opposition in 2021. For example, they may abolish the Rubtsovsky district in Altai Krai, where a CPRF candidate won in 2021", the experts conclude.
- Elimination of political parties
The Supreme Court of Russia has dissolved yet another political party for not participating in elections. This time, this party is Civic Force, which had not been active enough in elections over the past seven years (while by law, each party must participate in a certain number of election campaigns at different levels within this period).
Two months earlier, the same fate befell the Party of Business. Both decisions have not yet come into force, so the official list of parties on the Russian Ministry of Justice website still includes 25 parties, but very soon their number will drop to 23. Over the past six years, the number of political parties in Russia has decreased almost threefold.
- Instructions for the regions from the presidential administration
The Kremlin has also begun preparations for the 2026 Duma campaign. The political bloc of the Presidential Administration, responsible for the "elections", is already issuing instructions to the regions. Thus, at the end of 2025, a traditional seminar for vice-governors was held in the Moscow region, organized by the Presidential Administration. According to sources of the Kommersant media, target indicators for the 2026 Duma elections were announced at this event for the first time: 55% of the votes for United Russia with a turnout of 55%. After that, the governors presented their lists of candidates for Duma mandates. The Kremlin is preparing for their "audit".
3. Municipal reform retreats, but pressure on local government continues
The State Duma is drafting an amendment to the bill on local government (MSU) reform, that will preserve the two-tier system of local government. The State Duma speaker said that the local government reform is being postponed, but not canceled — an interfactional amendment is being prepared in parliament that will allow regions to preserve the two-tier system of municipalities. This is a serious deviation from the original plans of the authors of the reform. The change was driven by fierce resistance from both municipal authorities and some regional governments. REM wrote about the reform of local government here: National republics against the vertical power structure.
At the same time, the de facto destruction of local self-government continues in many parts of the country. In 2025 alone, public hearings on the liquidation of rural settlements were held in several districts of the Ryazan Region, Altai and Kamchatka Krais.
The attack on self-government is also underway from the other side — the authorities are trying to abolish direct elections of the still remaining municipal heads. In early 2025, public hearings on canceling elections were held in Buy (Kostroma region) and Tynda (Amur Region).
At the end of 2024, the Yakutsk City Council decided to abolish direct mayoral elections. This decision is currently being challenged in court. If it comes into effect, only three regional centers in Russia will still have direct mayoral elections – Khabarovsk, Abakan, and Anadyr.
4. 'Golos' co-chair Melkonyants is still in detention
At the time of publication, Grigory Melkonyants has been held in pre-trial detention for 539 days. The next court hearing is scheduled for 10 February 2025.
Amnesty International recognized Grigory Melkonyants as a prisoner of conscience, persecuted solely for his civil activism. Here Melkonyants’ colleagues compiled the latest information on the ongoing trial.
