The 2023 Russian elections took place in Russia on Sunday, 10 September 2023 (single election day), with several regions allowing voting on 8 and 9 September. There were three by-elections to the 8th State Duma, 22 gubernatorial elections (21 direct and one indirectly elected), 16 regional parliamentary elections, and many elections on the municipal and local level.
Campaign
The election campaign was muted, with the major opposition figures having fled the country or being imprisoned.
The Golos election monitor called the election campaign the "most meaningless, boring and invisible campaign in the modern history of Russia", with the elections being held with a lack of competition and discussion of social issues important to the regions, as well as the candidates for office themselves not showing any interest for voting; it also stated that the elections in regions for governorships were "practically invisible not only to voters, but also to long-term observers". In Oryol Oblast, where gubernatorial elections were being held, there was practically no campaign, with only one candidate from New People coming to the debate; in Samara Oblast, only the LDPR candidate came to the debate. Golos also noted that the opposition candidates in the gubernatorial elections did not have large campaigns, did not hold public meetings with voters, and had small electoral budgets, with some candidates only running their campaign on social networks. BBC News Russian mentioned that the brightest campaign was held in Khakassia, where both the head of the republic and deputies of the local parliament were elected at the same time, with the United Russia candidate, Sergey Sokol, running against the incumbent governor Valentin Konovalov from the Communist Party. Sokol presented himself as a war hero, but ran a less active campaign compared to Konovalov and was still perceived as a newcomer in the region, according to RBK, which projected that Konovalov would likely win in the first round. On 2 September, Sokol withdrew, citing health problems.
Yabloko: The longtime liberal, pro-western opposition party Yabloko ran with the campaign slogan of "For Peace!" and ran 216 candidates throughout the country. Nikolay Rybakov, the party's chairman, stated that "there are several dozen parties in Russia that support the policies of President Putin. And there is only one party—Yabloko—which opposes his policies.” However, Yabloko individually didn't go as far as to directly call for peace due to Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of Russia allowing the arrest of any Russian discrediting the military and its actions. Yabloko party officials, candidates and supporters were harassed by government officials throughout the campaign. Rybakov was declared a "foreign agent" and the Pskov branch of the party had its headquarters raided after its leader, Lev Shlosberg, who was also declared a "foreign agent", refused to call the Freedom of Russia Legion a "terrorist organization". Russian police also seized and destroyed all campaign material of the Novgorod Oblast branch of the party. Various Yabloko candidates, including Elizaveta Kazantseva, a candidate for the Yekaterinburg City Duma received death threats to drop out of the race.
Conduct The Golos election monitor said that it had received almost 600 complaints of violations as of the afternoon on the first day of voting, with threats of violence, vote buying and people being barred from casting ballots being among the most common complaints. It also said it had filed 75 complaints with authorities and received official responses in 28 cases.
Federal elections State Duma by-elections
Constituency Former MP Party Elected MP PartyLipetskNikolay Bortsov until 23 April 2023United RussiaDmitry AverovUnited RussiaKarachay-CherkessiaDzhasharbek Uzdenov until 23 April 2023United RussiaSoltan UzdenovUnited RussiaDivnogorskViktor Zubarev until 31 May 2023United RussiaSergey YeryominUnited Russia
Regional elections Gubernatorial direct elections Region Incumbent Status Last race ResultKhakassiaValentin Konovalov (CPRF)Incumbent Head re-elected2018: 57.57%2023: 63.14%YakutiaAysen Nikolayev (UR)Incumbent Head re-electedГлава Якутии планирует баллотироваться на второй срок в 2023 году2018: 71.40%2023: 75.77%Altai KraiViktor Tomenko (UR)Incumbent governor re-elected Андрей Турчак поддержал выдвижение кандидатуры Виктора Томенко на пост губернатора Алтайского края2018: 53.61%2023: 76.16%Krasnoyarsk KraiAleksandr Uss (UR)ResignedКрасноярскому — край2018: 60.19%—Mikhail Kotyukov (UR)Acting Governor electedКотюков заявил о намерении принять участие в выборах губернатора Красноярского края—2023: 70.21%Primorsky KraiOleg Kozhemyako (UR)Incumbent governor re-electedОлег Кожемяко выдвинут кандидатом от "Единой России" на выборы губернатора Приморья2018: 61.88%2023: 72.78%Amur OblastVasily Orlov (UR)Incumbent governor re-electedПутин поддержал глав Амурской и Новосибирской областей на губернаторских выборах2018: 55.60%2023: 82.38%Ivanovo OblastStanislav Voskresensky (UR)Incumbent governor re-electedПутин поддержал намерение губернатора Ивановской области участвовать в новых выборах2018: 65.72%2023: 82.49%Kemerovo OblastSergey Tsivilyov (UR)Incumbent governor re-elected«Я готов»: Сергей Цивилев прокомментировал своё переизбрание на второй срок2018: 81.29%2023: 85.23%Magadan OblastSergey Nosov (UR)Incumbent governor re-electedПутин поддержал решение магаданского губернатора пойти на выборы в сентябре2018: 81.59%2023: 72.51%Moscow OblastAndrey Vorobyov (UR)Incumbent governor re-electedПутин поддержал решение Воробьева участвовать в выборах главы Подмосковья2018: 62.52%2023: 83.67%Nizhny Novgorod OblastGleb Nikitin (UR)Incumbent governor re-electedНижегородский губернатор Глеб Никитин прокомментировал возможность участия в выборах2018: 67.75%2023: 82.82%Novosibirsk OblastAndrey Travnikov (UR)Incumbent governor re-electedНовосибирский губернатор Травников намерен участвовать в выборах главы региона2018: 64.52%2023: 75.72%Omsk OblastAlexander Burkov (SR-ZP)ResignedБывший свердловский политик Александр Бурков покинул пост губернатора Омской области2018: 83.56%—Vitaliy Khotsenko (UR)Acting Governor electedЕР выдвинет Виталия Хоценко кандидатом на выборах губернатора Омской области—2023: 76.33%Oryol OblastAndrey Klychkov (CPRF)Incumbent governor re-elected2018: 83.55%2023: 82.09%Pskov OblastMikhail Vedernikov (UR)Incumbent governor re-elected2018: 70.68%2023: 86.30%Samara OblastDmitry Azarov (UR)Incumbent governor re-electedСамарский губернатор Азаров намерен участвовать в выборах главы региона2018: 72.63%2023: 83.82%Smolensk OblastAlexey Ostrovsky (LDPR)ResignedПутин назначил врио губернатора Смоленской области Василия Анохина2020: 56.54%—Vasily Anokhin (UR)Acting Governor elected"Единая Россия" выдвинула Анохина кандидатом на выборы губернатора Смоленской области—2023: 86.62%Tyumen OblastAleksandr Moor (UR)Incumbent governor re-electedПутин пожелал тюменскому губернатору Моору успехов в преддверии выборов2018: 65.86%2023: 78.77%Voronezh OblastAleksandr Gusev (UR)Incumbent governor re-elected2018: 72.52%2023: 76.83%MoscowSergey Sobyanin (UR)Incumbent mayor re-electedСергей Собянин выразил надежду на поддержку москвичей на выборах мэра2018: 70.17%2023: 76.85%Chukotka AORoman Kopin (UR)ResignedВрио главы Чукотки назначен бывший первый зампред правительства ЛНР2018: 57.83%—Vladislav Kuznetsov (UR)Acting Governor elected"Единая Россия" выдвинула Кузнецова кандидатом на пост главы Чукотки—2023: 72.34%
Gubernatorial indirect elections Region Incumbent Status Last race ResultYamalo-Nenets AODmitry Artyukhov (UR)Incumbent re-electedПутин пожелал успехов губернатору ЯНАО на новых выборах в сентябре2018: 14/18Dmitry ArtyukhovАртюхов официально избран губернатором ЯНАО во второй раз
Legislative elections Legislature SeatsVoting systemMajority in last electionMajority after electionState Assembly of Bashkortostan110Parallel (55 party list + 55 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaPeople's Khural of Buryatia66Parallel (33 party list + 33 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaPeople's Khural of Kalmykia27Parallel (10 party list + 17 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaSupreme Council of Khakassia50Parallel (25 party list + 25 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaState Assembly of the Sakha Republic70Parallel (35 party list + 35 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaLegislative Assembly of Zabaykalsky Krai50Parallel (25 party list + 25 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaArkhangelsk Oblast Assembly of Deputies47Parallel (23 party list + 24 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaLegislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast42Parallel (22 party list + 20 SMC)CPRFUnited RussiaIvanovo Oblast Duma30Parallel (10 party list + 20 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaLegislative Assembly of Kemerovo Oblast46Parallel (23 party list + 23 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaLegislative Assembly of Rostov Oblast60Parallel (20 party list + 40 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaSmolensk Oblast Duma48Parallel (16 party list + 32 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaLegislative Assembly of Ulyanovsk Oblast36Parallel (18 party list + 18 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaLegislative Assembly of Vladimir Oblast40Parallel (15 party list + 25 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaYaroslavl Oblast Duma46Parallel (12 party list + 34 SMC)United RussiaUnited RussiaAssembly of Deputies of Nenets AO19Parallel (11 party list + 8 SMC)United RussiaUnited Russia
Legislative by-elections