Parliamentary elections in Mari El
Regional elections took place in the Russian Federation between 6-8 September 2024.
From 6 to 8 September 2024, elections took place in the republics of the Russian Federation: governors, local parliaments, mayors and city councils were elected. Among the Finno-Ugric republics of the Federation, parliamentary elections were held only in the Republic of Mari El.
As elsewhere in the Russian Federation, United Russia won overwhelmingly in Mari El, with 61.23% of the vote. The Communist Party received 11.57% and the Liberal Democratic Party 8.65%. These three parties are also represented in parliament, having won more than 5% of the electorate’s votes, the threshold required to enter parliament.
Out of 52 seats in the parliament, 48 were won by United Russia, whose representatives won 38 out of 39 districts, plus 10 seats on the party list. Two seats on party lists went to the Communist Party and one to the Liberal Democratic Party. In one of the districts – the Hill Mari district – an independent candidate won.
The turnout was 38.77%, which must be considered a fairly good result compared to the past. Compared to last year, United Russia gained a total of 15 seats, the Communists lost seven and the Liberal Democrats two. A Just Russia – For Truth completely dropped out of parliament, with 4.86% of the vote. Other notable outliers were the New People party, which got 4.35% of the vote, and the Party of Pensioners, which got 4.12%.
Analysis of results
How the Mari fared is hard to say, because unlike in previous elections, the candidates do not identify their nationality. However, it can be seen that in ethnic districts where the Maris make up more than 80% of the population, Maris were elected to parliament. For example, Larissa Yakovleva from the Volzhsky district, who heads the Federal Mari Cultural Autonomy in the Russian Federation, was re-elected. Natalia Pushkina was re-elected from the Morko district, where she was for a long time the head of the Mari Republican Cultural Centre and currently works as a school director. Most of the MPs elected to the Mari parliament continue to work in their main jobs, with the parliament as a sideline.
Commenting on the elections, Yelena Grigoryeva, a representative of the Communist Party elected to parliament, said on her VKontakte account, ‘We Communists lost big to United Russia at all levels. But people, think about it, the Communist Party deputies, of whom there were nine in the parliament, presented 24 bills for the period 2019-2024, while the United Russia deputies, of whom there were 33, presented only eight. So how is it possible that without actually doing anything they won? There has never been an election like this before and I don’t think there will be a better one’.
She goes on to lament about the way in which United Russia in fact operates with all the power vertical and huge administrative resources. The opposition is given no opportunity to show itself and present its views.
