Legislative elections were held in Russia on 7December 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.
| Party | Lead candidates | Political position | Ideology | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-National Russian Political Party "Union" | ORPP Soyuz | Aleksandr Kudimov • Dmitry Kaplin • Mikhail Trofimov | Centre | Protectionism / Welfare state | The party did not file paperwork for election. | |
| Conservative Party of Russia | KPR | Yuriy Tegin • Vladimir Burenin • Natalya Korolyova | Centre-right | Conservatism / Anti-communism | The party did not file paperwork for election after a leadership split in October 2003.[3] | |
| Liberal Russia (pro-Berezovsky faction) | LR | Boris Berezovsky • Ivan Rybkin • Yuly Dubov | Centre-right | Liberalism / Liberal conservatism | Federal list of candidates was rejected by the Central Election Commission following a split in party leadership. The commission sided with the anti-Berezovsky faction of Liberal Russia which ran in this election as part of the New Course — Automobile Russia alliance.[4][5] | |
| National Patriotic Forces of the Russian Federation | NPS RF | Andrey Saltsinov • Schmidt Dzoblayev • Stanislav Terekhov | Left-wing | Left-wing populism / Multiculturalism / Federalism | Federal list of candidates was withdrawn by the party citing concerns about quality of signatures gathered in their support. NPS RF candidates remained on ballot in single-member constituencies.[6] | |
The following parties only competed in single-member constituencies:
| 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 | 6.0 | 8.5 | 13.4 | 3.3 | 1 | ||||
| 26 Mar 2000 | 2000 Russian presidential election | |||||||||||||
| 1 May 2000 | End of the active phase of Second Chechen War, effective Russian victory | |||||||||||||
| VCIOM | May 2000 | 26 | 6 | 33 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 7 | |||
| VCIOM | 24–27 Nov 2000 | 19 | 6 | 33 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 14 | |||
| FOM | 2–3 Dec 2000 | 16 | 3 | 17 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 5 | 12 | 1 | |||
| FOM | 10–11 Feb 2001 | 19 | 7 | 21 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 8 | 2 | ||
| Apr 2001 | "Save NTV" protests | |||||||||||||
| FOM | 14–15 Apr 2001 | 19 | 5 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 15 | 3 | ||
| FOM | 21–22 Apr 2001 | 22 | 8 | 21 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 1 | ||
| FOM | 2–3 Jun 2001 | 23 | 5 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 6 | 11 | Tie | ||
| FOM | 14–15 Jul 2001 | 22 | 6 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 1 | ||
| FOM | 8–9 Sep 2001 | 22 | 6 | 23 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 6 | 9 | 1 | ||
| FOM | 20–21 Oct 2001 | 25 | 6 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 3 | ||
| 1 Dec 2001 | United Russia party founded | |||||||||||||
| FOM | 2–3 Feb 2002 | 21 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 3 | |||
| FOM | 20 Jul 2002 | 31 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | ||||||
| VCIOM | 21–27 Aug 2002 | 26 | 34 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 8 | ||||
| FOM | 12–13 Oct 2002 | 26 | 23 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 10 | 3 | ||
| 23–26 Oct 2002 | Nord-Ost Hostage Crisis | |||||||||||||
| ARPI | 5–9 Dec 2002 | 37 | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 13 | |||||
| 29 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 16 | ||||
| VCIOM | 20–23 Dec 2002 | 27 | 27 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 20 | 5 | Tie | ||||
| ARPI | 6–10 Feb 2003 | 30 | 29 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 1 | |||||
| 21 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 3 | ||||
| ARPI | 21–25 Feb 2003 | 34 | 29 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 5 | |||||
| 20 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 4 | ||||
| ARPI | 6–11 Mar 2003 | 32 | 32 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | Tie | |||||
| 20 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 1 | ||||
| ARPI | 20–24 Mar 2003 | 31 | 36 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 5 | |||||
| 21 | 23 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 2 | ||||
| FOM | 5–6 Apr 2003 | 21 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 5 | 11 | 1 | ||
| ARPI | 3–9 Apr 2003 | 35 | 34 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 1 | |||||
| 23 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 5 | ||||
| FOM | 17 May 2003 | 19 | 21 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |||||||
| VCIOM | 23–26 May 2003 | 23 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| ARPI | 27 May 2003 | 22 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 37 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| VCIOM | 20–24 Jun 2003 | 26 | 27 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 16 | 3 | 1 | |||
| VCIOM | 15–18 Aug 2003 | 23 | 28 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 5 | |||
| CSP | 2–10 Sep 2003 | 26.8 | 17.0 | 7.0 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 9.8 | ||||||
| VCIOM-A | 19–22 Sep 2003 | 28 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 5 | 5 | ||
| FOM | 11 Oct 2003 | 20 | 18 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 5 | 13 | 2 | |
| VCIOM-A | 10–13 Oct 2003 | 26 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 5 | Tie | ||
| 25 Oct 2003 | Arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, | |||||||||||||
| VCIOM-A | 24–28 Oct 2003 | 30 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 6 | 7 | ||
| FOM | 8–9 Nov 2003 | 18.7 | 16.3 | 5.1 | 1.2 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 25.6 | 5.9 | 12.4 | 2.4 | ||
| VCIOM-A | 13–16 Nov 2003 | 29 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 5 | 6 | ||
| FOM | 15–16 Nov 2003 | 19.5 | 14.9 | 6.0 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 6.2 | 24.1 | 5.7 | 12.2 | 4.6 | ||
| VCIOM | 15–16 Nov 2003 | 26.2 | 19.6 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 6.6 | 19.8 | 6.0 | 6.6 | ||
| FOM | 22–23 Nov 2003 | 25.1 | 14.1 | 6.5 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 7.4 | 22.0 | 5.4 | 10.6 | 11 | ||
| ARPI | 27 Nov 2003 | 32 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 23 | |
| FOM | 29–30 Nov 2003 | 28.1 | 15.8 | 7.3 | 4.4 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 7.3 | 18.3 | 5.0 | 7.9 | 12.3 | ||
| Projector | Date | United Russia | CPRF | LDPR | Yabloko | SPS | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAPP[7] | 8 Oct 2003 | 185 | 135 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 66 |
| NAPP[8] | 3 Nov 2003 | 173 | 108 | 21 | 25 | 20 | 103 |
| Election result | 7 Dec 2003 | 223 | 52 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 132 |
| Polling firm | United Russia | CPRF | LDPR | Rodina | Yabloko | SPS | Against all |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOM[9] | 36 | 13.3 | 11.6 | 9.2 | 5.1 | 4.7 | |
| ROMIR[10] | 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 |
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.[11][12][13][14]