At stake in this election:

• 450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Dmitry Anatolyevich MEDVEDEV
• Head of Government: Premier Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN
• Assembly: Russia has a bicameral Federal Assembly (Federalnoye Sobraniye) consisting of the Federation Council (Sovet Federatsii) with 178 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 6-year term.
• The Premier is appointed by the president.
• In the Federation Council (Sovet Federatsii) 178 members are appointed by regional governing councils*. In the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma) 450 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

* There are 89 constituencies with a district magnitude of two. Terms to the Federation Council are not nationally fixed, Terms instead are determined according to the regional bodies they represent.

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

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: United Russia Bloc / Единая Россия, Yedìnaya Rossìya)
  • Leader: Dmitry MEDVEDEV
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 238
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 314
• Party: The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) / Коммунистическая партия Российской Федерации; Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Rossiyskoy Federatsii; (КПРФ; KPRF)
  • Leader: Gennadiy Andreyavich ZYUGANOV
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 92
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 57
• Party: Liberal Democratic Party of Russia / Либерально-Демократическая Партия России; Liberal'no-Demokraticheskaya Partiya Rossii (ЛДПР; LDPR)
  • Leader: Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 56
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 40
• Party: A Just Russia (JR) / Справедливая Россия; Spravedlivaya Rossiya (CP; SR)
  • Leader: Sergei MIRONOV
  • Seats won in this State Duma election: 64
  • Seats won in last State Duma election: 38

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 142,960,868 (2011)
• Registered Voters: 109,237,780 (December 2011)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 76,657,749 (2011)

·         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: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 61 (State Duma) following the 2011 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: 21,444,130 (est.)