According to the preliminary results of the State Duma Elections 2011, 20 per cent of Russian citizens gave their support to the Communist Party.

      The elections to the State Duma took place on Sunday, December 4, 2011. This is the first time when the Duma is elected for a 5-year term. This was also the last time when any given party had to cross the 7 per cent barrier to acquire any places in the Russian Parliament.

      In spite of police enforcement, elections took place in a fairly peaceful manner, although several arrests occurred in Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, the Russian media now reports the instances of illegal handling of the elections process, including alleged fabrication of results by way of putting the pre-filled bulletins into voting boxes ahead of the elections.

      As expected, criticism is predominantly directed at the ruling party headed by the current President. During the electoral race several instances of aggressive propaganda for the ruling party were recorded, including a highly controversial video advert featuring two young people, a guy and a girl, getting together into one voting cabin. The slogan "Let's do it together" only added controversy to what appeared as an appeal to the breach of a constitutional right for privacy. The criticism from one of the opposing parties spurred a "sequel" to the mentioned ad, in which the critics were openly mocked.

      The rest of the week will be dedicated to an accumulation of evidence for the fabrication of results. For instance, according to the infographic map compiled by Gazeta.ru, 99.48% of electorate in Chechnya voted for the ruling party. Although one cannot deny a genuine individual admiration for the current Prime Minister, it is highly suspicious that the Republic devastated by war would so whole-heartedly support the President's party. Novaya Gazeta reports of numerous instances of violation of elections process that included using pencils and pens with erasable ink.

      Meanwhile, according to preliminary results, the second largest parliamentary group is going to be formed by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Headed by Gennady Zyuganov, the CPRF has so far collected 19.17% of votes. The Social-Democratic Party, A Just Russia, is third with 13.22%, the Liberal-Democratic Party is fourth (11.67%). Yabloko (Apple), another liberal party, only collected 3.35% and seems to be ineligible to send their representatives to the Duma.

      To view the current results on the map, go to Gazeta.ru website and follow the bars atop the map. From left to right, they are: United Russia, Communist Party, Liberal-Democratic Party, A Just Russia, Yabloko, Patriots of Russia, The Right Cause, Void Bulletins, Instances of Violation, and Voters Turnout. To compare the elections results for 2007, 2009, and 2011, click on a region. Additional information and inforgraphics are displayed on Wikipedia and RIA Novosti.