The right-wing Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) has proposed eliminating the minimum vote percentage required to win seats in the State Duma, a Duma spokesman said on Tuesday.
The threshold is already scheduled to decline to 5% in time for Duma elections in 2016, from the 7% in effect for the parliamentary elections held on December 4.
"Finally, we are legislating LDPR's idea to abolish the election barrier. We think it is illogical that the nation's votes for other parties get redistributed amongst the parties that have actually overcome the barrier," LDPR Duma deputy Sergei Ivanov told RIA Novosti.
Under the proposed bill, the percentage of the 450 seats in the Duma a party receives will equal the percentage of the vote it receives.
"Thus, so to speak, one can calculate the value of the votes in a mandate. If the party has at least one seat, it means that people did not vote in vain for their representative in the Duma. This is only fair, to be honest, and I think it should be demanded," Ivanov said.
The Yabloko and Right Cause parties would both have won seats in last week's parliamentary elections if the proposed scheme had been in effect, he said.
The LDPR received 11.67% of the vote and will see its representation increase to 56 seats from 40 in the previous Duma.
