NOVOSIBIRSK/KHABAROVSK, December 12 (RIA Novosti) - Ruling party United Russia scored a landslide victory in two local elections Sunday, election authorities said Monday.
The pro-Kremlin party advanced its candidates for legislatures in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk and the Far Eastern port city of Khabarovsk, where each voter received two ballots for single-constituency and party-listed candidates.
In Novosibirsk, United Russia candidates took 33.1% of the vote in the 98-seat regional parliament, with voter turnout reaching 35.5%, Tamara Aleksenko, the chairman of the local election commission, said.
The 7% barrier was not an obstacle for the Communist Party (21.7%), the Agrarian Party (13.5%), or ultra-nationalist party LDPR (9.7%).
In Khabarovsk, preliminary results suggest that United Russia has won 18 out of the 26 seats in the local legislature, with the other six seats shared by the Communists, the LDPR, and nationalist party Rodina (Motherland), head of the local election commission Viktor Tsyrfa said.
Official results of the elections, with a voter turnout of 34.5%, are expected to be available December 15, Tsyrfa said.
