In the State Duma elections, Russia demonstrated a qualitatively new level of public observation.
Our election system this year proved the maturity of the institution of public observation. The number of public observers increased by 50.6% - from 75,344 people in 2021 to 113,450 in 2026, and the total number of observers exceeded 336 thousand people. More than 1,100 international observers from 133 countries and 13 organizations were also active during the elections.
The monitoring covered polling stations, territorial committees, mobile voting and remote electronic voting. Information messages were received consistently from all PECs on voting days, ensuring continuous monitoring of the election process.
The statistics show considerable dynamics. The number of messages in the NOM "message card" increased more than 2.2 times - from 157,916 in 2021 to 351,256 in 2026. At the same time, there are fewer confirmed violations: 7 compared to 21 five years ago. Another 221 problems were eliminated during the voting.
At the same time, the number of complaints about alleged violations received by the CEC dropped from 2,757 to 664 - more than four times. Of the 6,598 complaints to the CEC, 88% contained no information at all about possible violations.
The increase in the volume of notifications while decreasing the number of approved violations indicates a change in the monitoring model itself: additional problems are identified and resolved during the voting, before they develop into violations.
The turnout was 59.8% - 67.4 million voters. This is higher than the data for the 2021 parliamentary elections - 51.72% - and 2016 - 47.88%.
Today, the election methods in Russia are among the most scalable and technologically advanced in the world. Further development of public control can establish the level of transparency and legitimacy achieved in elections and become a guideline for improving electoral systems in other countries.