At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Russia

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN
• Head of Government: Premier Viktor Alekseyevich ZUBKOV
• Assembly: Russia has a bicameral Federal Assembly (Federalnoye Sobraniye) consisting of the Federation Council (Sovet Federatsii) with 168 seats and the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma) with 450 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term.
• The Premier is appointed by the president.
• In the Federation Council (Sovet Federatsii) 168 members are appointed by regional governing councils to serve 4-year terms*. In the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma) 450 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.**

* Members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 84 federal administrative units.

** Seats are allocated using the Hare quota. There is one, nationwide district and a minimum threshold of 7%.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Dmitry Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV
  • Party: United Russia
• Andrey Vladimirovich BOGDANOV
  • Party: Democratic Party of Russia
• Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKY
  • Party: Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR)
• Gennady Andreyevich ZYUGANOV
  • Party: Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF)

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 142,742,350 (2008)
• Registered Voters: 107,222,016 (March 2008 according to Central Election Commission results)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 76,551,471 (2008)

·         Is Russia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Russia ratified CEDAW: Yes (23 January 1981)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 63 (State Duma) following the 2007 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 50 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Russia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (24 September 2008)

·         Has Russia ratified CRPD: Yes (25 September 2012)

·         Population with a disability: 21,411,352 (est.)