Electoral district

An electoral district is a territory from which deputies or elected officials are elected. Russian legislation defines three categories of electoral districts: 1) single-mandate; 2) multi-mandate; 3) unified electoral district.

A unified electoral district is a district that encompasses the entire territory where elections are held. A unified electoral district is used in the elections for the President of the Russian Federation, gubernatorial elections, voting for party lists in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, and regional parliaments of the Russian Federation. For example, in the presidential elections or State Duma elections (based on party lists), the entire territory of the Russian Federation constitutes a unified electoral district, while in gubernatorial elections or elections for regional parliaments (based on party lists), the territory of the region forms a unified electoral district.

A single-mandate electoral district is a district where one deputy is elected within a certain territory. Single-mandate electoral districts are used in elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, elections to regional parliaments of the Russian Federation, etc. For instance, in elections to the State Duma, the territory of Russia is divided into 225 single-mandate districts. In elections to the regional parliament of the Russian Federation, the territory of the region is divided into a certain number of districts.

A multi-mandate electoral district is a district where several deputies are elected. Multi-mandate districts are most commonly used in municipal elections. For example, in municipal elections, the territory of each municipality is divided into several electoral districts - usually 2 to 5.