Russians Abroad Reject Putin's Party in Duma Elections

During the recent State Duma elections, Russians voting at embassies and consulates abroad supported the liberal New People party over Vladimir Putin's United Russia by a margin of eight to one, according to two independent exit polls. The Vote Abroad project surveyed nearly 15,700 voters across 27 polling stations in 22 countries, reporting New People at 43%, the Communist Party at 18.3%, and United Russia at 5.5%.

In contrast, official figures from Russia indicated United Russia winning nearly 58% of the vote. A separate exit poll by the opposition movement Vesna and the Progress project showed New People leading at every location with 47.3%.

Ivan Zhdanov, director of the Progress project, noted that 83.5% of respondents did not trust the official results. Voting abroad was calm, unlike reports from Russia of ballot stuffing.

Russia's ambassador to Switzerland criticized exit poll participants as "anti-Russian agitators." Voting restrictions for Russians abroad were noted, limiting them to federal party lists only.