1999 Russian legislative election

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1999 Russian legislative election
Flag of Russia.svg
  1995 19 December 1999 2003  

All 450 seats in the State Duma
226 seats needed for a majority
Turnout61.85% (Decrease2.svg 2.53 pp)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Gennady Zyuganov and Govorukhin in 1998 (cropped).jpg
Sergei Shoigu (18-01-2000).jpg
Primakov-Kovalev.jpg
Leader Gennady Zyuganov Sergei Shoigu Yevgeny Primakov
Party CPRF Unity OVR
Leader since14 February 19933 October 199921 August 1999
Leader's seatFederal listFederal listFederal list
Last election157 seats, 22.30%NewNew
Seats won1137368
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 44NewNew
Popular vote16,195,56915,548,7078,886,697
Percentage24.29% (PL)23.32% (PL)13.33% (PL)
SwingIncrease2.svg 1.99%NewNew

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Sergei Kirienko - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2000 (cropped).jpg Ba-yavlinsky-g-a-1999-june (sq, cropped).jpg Vladimir Zhirinovsky 2009 portrait (cropped).jpg
Leader Sergey Kiriyenko Grigory Yavlinsky Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Party SPS Yabloko Zhirinovsky Bloc
Leader since24 August 199916 October 199313 December 1989
Leader's seatFederal listFederal listFederal list
Last electionNew45 seats, 6.89%51 seats, 11.18%
Seats won292017
Seat changeNewDecrease2.svg 25Decrease2.svg 34
Popular vote5,676,9823,955,4573,989,932
Percentage8.52% (PL)5.93% (PL)5.98% (PL)
SwingNewDecrease2.svg 0.96%Decrease2.svg 5.20%

 Seventh partyEighth partyNinth party
  Viktor Chernomyrdin-1.jpg
Ilyukhin (2010-06-18).jpg
Konchina Ego Sviateishchestva Aleksiia II, 05 dekabria, KhKhS , Sobornaia vstrecha. Moscow, Russia - panoramio - Oleg Yu.Novikov (4).jpg
Leader Viktor Chernomyrdin Viktor Ilyukhin Sergey Baburin
Party NDR DPA ROS
Leader since12 May 19958 July 199821 December 1991
Leader's seat Yamalo-Nenets Pervomaysky Federal list (lost)
Last election55 seats, 10.13%New5 seats (inside VN)
Seats won722
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 48NewDecrease2.svg 3
Popular vote791,160384,392245,266
Percentage1.19% (PL)0.58% (PL)0.37% (PL)
SwingDecrease2.svg 8.94%New

1999 Russian legislative election PR map.svg
Winning party by region

Chairman of the State Duma before election

Gennadiy Seleznyov
CPRF

Elected Chairman of the State Duma

Gennadiy Seleznyov
CPRF

Legislative elections were held in Russia on 19 December 1999 to elect the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly. [1] Like in the previous elections in 1995, the electoral system resulted in many parties competing for the proportional seats and a significant number of independent deputies elected.

Contents

Electoral system

According to the 1993 electoral law, 225 members of the house were allocated proportionally, using statewide party lists, while other 225 members were elected in single-member constituencies, using first past the post system.

To secure a place on the ballot, parties had to have registered with the Russian Ministry of Justice one year before the election (instead of six months in previous elections). As an alternative to gathering 200,000 signatures, they had the option of paying a deposit of just over two million roubles, returnable if the party won at least 3.0 percent of the list vote. In order to increase proportionality, the law provided that if parties reaching the five per cent threshold got in total 50 per cent or less of the vote, parties with at least 3.0 per cent of the vote would also win seats by declining numbers of votes up to the point at which the total share of vote exceeded 50 per cent. However, if after this procedure the parties winning seats still had less than 50 per cent of the vote, the election was to be deemed invalid. In the single-member district ballots, if votes cast against all exceeded the votes of each candidate, a repeat election had to be held within four months. As a result, repeat elections had to be held in eight districts. Finally, as an alternative to gathering signatures in support of their nomination, single-member district candidates were also given the option of paying a deposit of 83,490 roubles, returnable if she won at least 5.0 percent of the district vote.

Campaign

Liberal Democratic nominee Vladimir Zhirinovsky campaigning for his party Zhirinovsky Vladimir (cropped1).jpg
Liberal Democratic nominee Vladimir Zhirinovsky campaigning for his party

The early election campaign saw the initial surge in popularity of Fatherland-All Russia bloc, led by the Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, which tried to capitalize upon the perceived incapacity of President Boris Yeltsin and the weakness of his administration. The tide had turned on 9 August 1999 when Yeltsin designated Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister and his eventual successor. On 24 November, Putin announced that "as a citizen" he will support the recently formed pro-government bloc Interregional Movement "Unity", headed by General Sergei Shoigu, a member of all Russian governments since 1994.

Opinion polls

Opinion polling for the 1999 Russian legislative election.svg
Polling firmFieldwork date CPRF Unity OVR SPS [lower-alpha 1] LDPR NDR Yabloko NRPR [lower-alpha 2] Lead
VCIOM [2] 12 Dec2421127483
FOM [2] 12 Dec2116955175
ROMIR [2] 10-12 Dec17179757Tie
ARPI [2] 10-12 Dec20.814.711.66.54.496.1
24 NovVladimir Putin endorses Unity bloc
FOM [3] 20-21 Nov29.111.115.26.95.51.311.110
FOM [3] 13-14 Nov30.110.919.15.45.42.710.98
FOM [3] 6-7 Nov27.310.921.95.45.44.112.34
FOM [3] 30-31 Oct25.99.022.03.85.12.512.93
11 Oct CEC forces LDPR to re-register as "Zhirinovsky Bloc"
ARPI [4] 4-10 Oct302575195
FOM [5] 18-19 Sep21292321048
4–16 Sep Russian apartment bombings
FOM [5] 4-5 Sep20232511243
FOM [5] 21–22 Aug2127351846
9 Aug Vladimir Putin appointed prime minister
FOM [5] 24-25 Jul23155621158
ROMIR [6] 5–15 Jul22.5133.24.73.913.52.69
FOM [5] 26-27 Jun22153621157
ROMIR [6] 5–15 Jun21.917.25.74.93.712.27.64.7
FOM [5] 29–30 May24162721358
15 May Impeachment attempt of Boris Yeltsin fails in the State Duma
12 May Sergey Stepashin appointed prime minister
ROMIR [6] 5–15 May23.613.51.35.43.213.4410.1
FOM [5] 24-25 Apr23133531548
ROMIR [6] 5–15 Apr23.411.33.66.63.415.76.17.7
FOM [5] 27-28 Mar241325214510
24 MarPM Primakov cancels visit to the US over Yugoslavia bombings
ROMIR [6] 5–15 Mar25.59.60.95.22.213.74.411.8
FOM [5] 27-28 Feb261634211510
ROMIR [6] 5–15 Feb23.110.614.72.311.9511.2
ROMIR [6] 5–15 Jan 199922.813.60.93.72.513.34.59.2
ROMIR [6] 5–15 Nov 199825.11.13.53.612.78.312.4
1995 election 19 Dec 199522.3New New New 11.210.16.9New11.1

Results

PartyParty-listConstituencyTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Communist Party 16,196,02424.78678,893,54713.7146113–44
Unity 15,549,18223.79641,408,8012.17973New
Fatherland – All Russia 8,886,75313.59375,469,3898.433168New
Union of Right Forces 5,677,2478.68242,016,2943.11529New
Zhirinovsky Bloc 3,990,0386.10171,026,6901.58017–34
Yabloko 3,955,6116.05163,289,7605.07420–25
Communists and Workers of Russia – for the Soviet Union 1,481,8902.270439,7700.6800–1
Women of Russia 1,359,0422.080326,8840.5000–3
Party of Pensioners 1,298,9711.990480,0870.7411New
Our Home – Russia 790,9831.2101,733,2572.6777–48
Russian Party for the Protection of Women536,0220.8200New
Congress of Russian CommunitiesYury Boldyrev Movement405,2980.620461,0690.7111–4
Stalin Bloc – For the USSR 404,2740.62064,3460.1000New
For Civil Dignity 402,7540.620147,6110.2300New
All-Russian Political Movement in Support of the Army 384,4040.590466,1760.7222New
Peace, Labour, May 383,3320.590126,4180.1900New
Andrei Nikolayev and Svyatoslav Fyodorov Bloc371,9380.570676,4371.0411New
Party of Peace and Unity 247,0410.3800New
Russian All-People's Union 245,2660.380700,9761.0822New
Russian Socialist Party 156,7090.240662,0301.0211New
Russian Cause111,8020.1701,8460.0000New
Conservative Movement of Russia 87,6580.130125,9260.1900New
All-Russian People's Party69,6950.1100New
All-Russian Socio-Political Movement "Spiritual Heritage" 67,4170.100594,4260.9211New
Socialist Party of Russia 61,6890.09030,0850.0500New
Social-Democrats of Russia50,9480.08018,6180.03000
Russian Ecological Party "Kedr" 112,1670.17000
Russian Patriotic Popular Movement10,4810.0200New
Russian Party7,9180.01000
Russian Conservative Party of Entrepreneurs2,6470.0000New
Independents27,877,09542.98105105+28
Against all2,198,7023.367,695,17111.8688
Vacant seats11
Total65,370,690100.0022564,865,922100.002254500
Valid votes65,370,69098.0564,865,92297.84
Invalid/blank votes1,296,9921.951,429,7792.16
Total votes66,667,682100.0066,295,701100.00
Registered voters/turnout108,073,95661.69108,073,95661.34
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, University of Essex

Further reading

reviewed by Luke March in: Slavic Review 63.4 (Winter 2004), 897–898.

Notes

  1. Right Cause coalition in February–March FOM polls, summary of Right Cause and New Force in April–August FOM polls.
  2. People's Republican Party of Russia of Alexander Lebed

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References