2003 Russian legislative election

2003 Russian legislative election
← 1999
7 December 2003
2007 →
All 450 seats in the State Duma
226 seats needed for a majority
Turnout55.75% (Decrease 6.10 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Boris Gryzlov Gennady Zyuganov Sergey Glazyev
Party United Russia CPRF Rodina
Leader since 20 November 2002 14 February 1993 14 September 2003
Leader's seat Federal list Federal list Podolsk
Last election New 113 seats, 24.29% New
Seats won 223 52 37
Seat change New Decrease 61 New
Popular vote 22,776,294 7,647,820 5,470,429
Percentage 37.56% (PL) 12.61% (PL) 9.02% (PL)
Swing New Decrease 11.68% New
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky Gennady Raikov Grigory Yavlinsky
Party LDPR NPRF Yabloko
Leader since 13 December 1989 29 September 2001 16 October 1993
Leader's seat Federal list Tyumen Federal list (lost)
Last election 17 seats, 5.20% New 20 seats, 5.93%
Seats won 36 17 4
Seat change Increase 19 New Decrease 16
Popular vote 6,944,322 714,705 2,610,087
Percentage 11.35% (PL) 1.18% (PL) 4.30% (PL)
Swing Increase 6.15% New Decrease 1.63%
  Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party
  Boris_Nemtsov_2008-11-23_crop
Leader Boris Nemtsov Gennadiy Seleznyov Mikhail Lapshin
Party SPS PVR–RPZh APR
Leader since 27 May 2001 7 September 2002 26 February 1993
Leader's seat Federal list (lost) Northern SPb Federal list (lost)
Last election 29 seats, 8.52% New 11 seats (inside OVR)
Seats won 3 3 2
Seat change Decrease 26 New Decrease 9
Popular vote 2,408,535 1,140,413 2,205,850
Percentage 3.97% (PL) 1.88% (PL) 3.64% (PL)
Swing Decrease 4.55% New –
Chairman of the State Duma before election

Gennadiy Seleznyov
PVR

Elected Chairman of the State Duma

Boris Gryzlov
United Russia

Distribution of the constituency seats by federal subject.
List
  •   United Russia
      People's Party
      Communist Party
      Rodina
      Yabloko
      Party of Rebirth/Party of Life
      Union of Right Forces
      Agrarian Party
      Great Russia
      New Course — Automobile Russia
      Development of Enterprise
      Self-nominations
      Seat not filled

Legislative elections were held in Russia on 7 December 2003.[1] At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), the lower house of the Federal Assembly.

As expected, the pro-Vladimir Putin United Russia party received the most votes (38%) and won the most seats, gaining a plurality in the Duma. The Communist Party remained the second largest, though much reduced in strength. The Liberal Democratic Party improved its position by 19 seats, while the liberal Yabloko and the liberal-conservative Union of Right Forces lost most of their seats.

Political parties and blocs

No. Electoral association or bloc[2] Abbr. Lead candidates Political position Ideology
1 Conceptual Party "Unity" KPE Konstantin Petrov • Vladimir Gribov • Dmitry Poltoratsky Far-right Conspiracy theory / Occultism
2 Union of Right Forces SPS Boris Nemtsov • Irina Khakamada • Anatoly Chubais Centre-right to right-wing Conservative liberalism / Neoliberalism / Atlanticism
3 Russian Party of Pensioners and Party of Social Justice
RPP, PSS		 RPP–PSS Vladimir Kishenin • Galiya Zelenchukova • Dmitry Senyukov Centre-left Pensioners' interests / Social justice
4 Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" Yabloko Grigory Yavlinsky • Vladimir Lukin • Igor Artemyev Centre Social liberalism / Liberal democracy
5 For a Holy Russia [ru; nl] ZRS Sergey Popov • Aleksey Kuimov • Igor Shatalov Right-wing Conservatism / Christian nationalism
6 United Russian Party Rus' ORP Rus' Valery Burkov • Lidia Rusanova • Vladimir Medvedev Right-wing Patriotism / Russian nationalism
7 New Course — Automobile Russia
Liberal Russia, RPRF, DAR		 NCAR Viktor Pokhmelkin • Boris Fyodorov • Leonid Olshansky Centre-right Liberalism / Drivers' interests
8 People's Republican Party of Russia [ru] NRPR Eduard Baltin • Vladimir Kushnerenko • Vitaly Pavlov Right-wing National conservatism / Patriotism
9 Russian Ecological Party "The Greens" REPZ Anatoly Panfilov • Viktor Ignatov • Vladimir Yevstafyev Centre Green politics
10 Agrarian Party of Russia APR Mikhail Lapshin • Alexander Nazarchuk • Alexey Chepa Left-wing Agrarianism / Agrarian socialism
11 Genuine Patriots of Russia IPR Magomed Radzhabov • Kalsyn Tokayev • Zaur Radzhabov Centre-right Muslim interests
12 People's Party of the Russian Federation NPRF Gennady Raikov • Gennady Troshev • Nikolay Derzhavin Centre-left Populism / Social conservatism
13 Democratic Party of Russia DPR Vladimir Podoprigora • Mikhail Kislyuk • Gennady Pushko Centre-right Liberal conservatism / Federalism / Civic nationalism
14 Great Russia–Eurasian Union
EAP–SPR, RPM, GPR		 VR–EAS Pavel Borodin • Ruslan Aushev • Leonid Ivashov Centre-left Eurasian integration / Left-wing populism
15 Union of People for Education and Science SLON Vyacheslav Igrunov • Nurali Latypov • Andrey Sharomov Centre to centre-left Social liberalism / Scientists' interests
16 Rodina (People's Patriotic Union)
SEPR, People's Will, PRR		 Rodina Sergey Glazyev • Dmitry Rogozin • Valentin Varennikov Right-wing Right-wing populism / National conservatism / Statism
17 Party of Peace and Unity PME Sazhi Umalatova • Viktor Stepanov • Yevgeny Ishchenko Left-wing Soviet patriotism / Eurasianism
18 Liberal Democratic Party of Russia LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky • Alexey Ostrovsky • Igor Lebedev Right-wing Right-wing populism / Unitarism / Anti-communism
19 Party of Russia's Rebirth – Russian Party of Life
PVR, RPZh		 PVR–RPZh Gennadiy Seleznyov • Sergey Mironov • Valentina Tereshkova Centre-left Left-wing populism / Welfare state / Social democracy
20 United Russia UR Boris Gryzlov • Sergei Shoigu • Yury Luzhkov Centre-right Statism / Social conservatism / Conservative liberalism
21 Russian Constitutional Democratic Party RKDP Vyacheslav Volkov • Irina Alfyorova • Aleksandr Kotenev Centre-right Constitutionalism
22 Development of Enterprise RP Ivan Grachev • Oksana Dmitriyeva • Andrey Nechayev Centre-right Economic liberalism
23 Communist Party of the Russian Federation CPRF Gennady Zyuganov • Nikolai Kondratenko • Nikolay Kharitonov Left-wing Socialism / Left-wing conservatism

Opinion polls

Polling firm Fieldwork date Unity OVR CPRF LDPR Rodina Yabloko SPS APR Other Unsure Against
all 		Wouldn't
vote 		Lead
United
Russia
Election result 19 Dec 1999 23.3 13.3 24.3 5.9 N/a 6.0 8.5 N/a 13.4 N/a 3.3 N/a 1
VCIOM May 2000 26 6 33 4 N/a 8 9 1 9[a] N/a 4 N/a 7
VCIOM 24-27 Nov 2000 19 6 33 7 N/a 8 8 2 12[b] N/a 4 N/a 14
FOM 2-3 Dec 2000 16 3 17 3 N/a 5 5 N/a N/a 27 5 12 1
FOM 10-11 Feb 2001 19 7 21 5 N/a 5 3 3 N/a 20 8 8 2
FOM 14-15 Apr 2001 19 5 22 6 N/a 5 4 2 N/a 14 8 15 3
FOM 21-22 Apr 2001 22 8 21 4 N/a 8 5 3 N/a 13 7 8 1
FOM 2-3 Jun 2001 23 5 23 5 N/a 5 5 3 N/a 16 6 11 Tie
FOM 14-15 Jul 2001 22 6 23 5 N/a 4 4 2 N/a 18 7 9 1
FOM 8-9 Sep 2001 22 6 23 4 N/a 5 3 2 N/a 20 6 9 1
FOM 20-21 Oct 2001 25 6 22 5 N/a 4 3 2 N/a 18 6 10 3
FOM 2-3 Feb 2002 21 24 7 N/a 6 4 3 N/a 14 10 10 3
FOM 20 Jul 2002 31 22 5 N/a 3 3 2 N/a N/a N/a N/a 9
VCIOM 21-27 Aug 2002 26 34 9 N/a 8 6 1 12[c] N/a 5 N/a 8
FOM 12-13 Oct 2002 26 23 5 N/a 5 5 2 1 15 6 10 3
VCIOM 20-23 Dec 2002 27 27 9 N/a 7 5 2 20[d] N/a 5 N/a Tie
FOM 5-6 Apr 2003 21 22 5 N/a 5 3 3 1 25 5 11 1
FOM 17 May 2003 19 21 7 N/a 5 3 N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a 2
VCIOM 23-26 May 2003 23 28 10 N/a 8 5 N/a 7 13 4 N/a 5
VCIOM 20-24 Jun 2003 26 27 6 N/a 8 3 1 10[e] 16 3 N/a 1
VCIOM 15-18 Aug 2003 23 28 9 N/a 6 5 4 6[f] 12 5 N/a 5
VCIOM-A 19-22 Sep 2003 28 23 5 2 5 5 2 6[g] 20 5 N/a 5
FOM 11 Oct 2003 20 18 7 2 4 4 2 4[h] 21 5 13 2
VCIOM-A 10-13 Oct 2003 26 26 5 3 5 4 2 4[i] 20 5 N/a Tie
VCIOM-A 24-28 Oct 2003 30 23 5 1 4 6 2 5[j] 17 6 N/a 7
FOM 8-9 Nov 2003 18.7 16.3 5.1 1.2 4.2 4.5 N/a 6.0 25.6 5.9 12.4 2.4
VCIOM-A 13 Nov 2003 29 23 8 3 6 6 2 4[k] 14 5 N/a 6
FOM 15-16 Nov 2003 19.5 14.9 6.0 2.9 3.8 4.5 N/a 6.2 24.1 5.7 12.2 4.6
FOM 22-23 Nov 2003 25.1 14.1 6.5 3.3 2.5 3.5 N/a 7.4 22.0 5.4 10.6 11
FOM 29-30 Nov 2003 28.1 15.8 7.3 4.4 2.7 3.4 N/a 7.3 18.3 5.0 7.9 12.3

Exit polls

Polling firm United
Russia 		CPRF LDPR Rodina Yabloko SPS Against
all
FOM[3] 36 13.3 11.6 9.2 5.1 4.7 N/a
ROMIR[4] 34.1 13.2 10.9 9.5 5.8 6.1 6.8
Election result 37.6 12.6 11.5 9.0 4.3 4.0 4.7

Results

PartyParty-listConstituencyTotal
seats		+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
United Russia22,776,29438.1612014,123,62523.95103223New
Communist Party7,647,82012.81406,577,59811.151252−61
Liberal Democratic Party6,944,32211.64361,860,9053.16036+19
National Patriotic Union "Rodina"5,470,4299.17291,719,1472.92837New
Yabloko2,610,0874.3701,580,6292.6844−16
Union of Right Forces2,408,5354.0401,764,2902.9933−26
Agrarian Party2,205,8503.7001,104,9741.8722New
Russian Pensioners' Party–Party of Social Justice1,874,9733.140342,8910.5800−1
Party of Russia's Rebirth–Russian Party of Life1,140,4131.9101,584,9042.6933New
People's Party714,7051.2002,677,8894.541717New
Conceptual Party "Unity"710,7211.1909,3340.0200New
New Course — Automobile Russia509,3020.850222,0900.3811New
For a Holy Russia298,8260.50059,9860.1000New
Russian Ecological Party "The Greens"253,9850.43069,5850.12000
Development of Enterprise212,8270.360237,5270.4011New
Great Russia – Eurasian Union170,7960.290464,6020.7911New
Genuine Patriots of Russia149,1510.2502,5640.0000New
Party of Peace and Unity148,9540.25010,6640.02000
United Russian Party Rus'147,4410.250570,4530.9700New
Democratic Party136,2950.23094,8100.1600New
Russian Constitutional Democratic Party113,1900.1900New
Union of People for Education and Science107,4480.18016,1110.0300New
People's Republican Party80,4200.1302,9950.0100New
Other parties288,8660.4900–
Independents15,843,62626.866767−38
Against all2,851,9584.78–7,744,99813.1333−5
Total59,684,742100.0022558,975,063100.002254500
Valid votes59,684,74298.4458,975,06397.93
Invalid/blank votes948,4351.561,247,4912.07
Total votes60,633,177100.0060,222,554100.00
Registered voters/turnout108,906,25055.67108,906,25055.30
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, IPU, 2003 elections[5]

Legacy

The 2003 election is cited by scholars as a turning point in Russian politics, as it marked the moment the federal parliament effectively became a rubber stamp body.[6][7][8]

Notes

  1. ^ Women of Russia 4%, People's Republican Party 2%, NDR, RNE 1%, other 1%.
  2. ^ Women of Russia 7%, Russia 2%, People's Republican Party, RNE 1%, other 1%.
  3. ^ Women of Russia 6%, DPR, RNE, Russia 1%, other 3%.
  4. ^ Women of Russia 8%, PVR 3%, RNE, RPP, Development of Enterprise 2%, NPRF, Liberal Russia 1%, other 1%.
  5. ^ PVR, Greens 2%, NPRF, RPP, DPR, RNE, SDPR 1%, other 1%.
  6. ^ PVR 3%, Greens, NPRF, RPP 1%, other <1%.
  7. ^ Greens 2%, NPRF, PVR-RPZh, DPR 1%, other 1%.
  8. ^ PVR-RPZh 2%, NPRF, Great Russia—Eurasian Union 1%, New Cource 0%.
  9. ^ Greens, PVR-RPZh, DPR, NPRF 1%.
  10. ^ RPP–PSS, Greens, VR–EAS, Development of Enterprise, NPRF 1%.
  11. ^ RPP–PSS 2%, NPRF, Development of Enterprise 1%.

References

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1642 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ "Избирательные объединения и блоки на выборах - 2003" [Electoral associations and blocs in the 2003 election]. politika.su (in Russian). Retrieved 10 February 2026.
  3. ^ "ФОМ: СПС не проходит в Госдуму". RBC (in Russian). 7 December 2003. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  4. ^ "Выборы в Госдуму: свежие результаты exit polls". RBC (in Russian). 8 December 2003. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  5. ^ Сведения о зарегистрированных депутатах ГД ФС РФ четвертого созыва по одномандатным избирательным округам Archived 2006-10-16 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  6. ^ Rosefielde, Steven; Hedlund, Stefan (2009). Russia Since 1980. Cambridge University Press. p. 174. ISBN 9780521849135. Retrieved 23 September 2023. Duma election of 2003, reducing the legislature to a rubber stamp.
  7. ^ Troianovski, Anton; Nechepurenko, Ivan (19 September 2021). "Russian Election Shows Declining Support for Putin's Party". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  8. ^ China Russia Compared wesleyan.edu July 2015
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Russian_legislative_election