Russians vote in poll set up to keep Kremlin in power

Russians on Friday began three days of voting in the country’s first wartime parliamentary election, which features virtually no opposition and is all but certain to secure the Kremlin’s political dominance. Authorities spread the election over the weekend in a bid to boost turnout among the 111 million eligible voters and even allowed electronic balloting. Polls opened Friday and will close Sunday.

The Kremlin wants the parliamentary election - the first since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - to underline public support for the war and give a veneer of legitimacy to its action. It has sought to avoid any political risks by stamping out even the slightest sign of dissent.

“Your choice and resolve will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our fighters, that we are a united people, bound by shared values, historical memory, and love for the Motherland,” President Vladimir Putin told the nation before the vote.

The main Kremlin party, United Russia, is all but assured to retain its overwhelming control of the lower house, the State Duma. Several smaller parties of the “systemic opposition” that vote in sync with the government on all key issues also are expected to retain their presence. Voters cast two separate ballots, filling half of the Duma’s 450 seats by selecting political parties listed on the ballot.

The rest are contested in single-seat constituencies, with voters choosing individual candidates.

Russians interviewed by The Associated Press expressed different expectations from the election.

Dmitry Kirillin in Moscow said earlier this week that he would like “to see some changes. To see a different party” at the helm. Muscovite Alexander Vertukhin, on the opposite, believed “what United Russia and the communists are doing is quite sufficient; their platforms cover everything.”

Speaking to AP at a Moscow polling station on Friday, pensioner Galina Vavilova said she thought ending the war in Ukraine “is the main thing, of course.”

“That is the most important thing right now. Everyone wants peace, that’s what it comes down to. So that our guys are safe and sound,” she said.