Chamber:
	Gossoudarstvennaya Duma
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	19 December 1999
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats of the State Duma on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The third parliamentary elections since the collapse of the Soviet Union were held on 19 December 1999 in the Russian Federation. Over 107 million voters were registered and the turnout at the 93,000 polling stations was high (62%). The elections to fill 449 seats (not including Chechnya) in the State Duma were deemed to have complied with internationally recognised democratic principles by the international observer mission sent by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. However, some international observers reported interference by the Executive in the electoral process, in particular through the refusal to authorise public meetings, impromptu tax inspections, administrative fines, etc. The international observer mission also criticised the election campaign for unequal access to the Russian media notwithstanding the provisions of the new electoral law. The electoral campaign took place against the background of the Chechen conflict but the latter was not a key issue since the population had expressed its support for Russian military intervention. As a result of this approval, the Government escaped criticism for other internal problems during the electoral debate. The big winner was the new "Unity" party established in September 1999 to represent the Government in the elections. It took 72 seats, 67 by party-list proportional representation, i.e. over 23%. The Communist Party lost 44 seats compared with the previous elections but retains 113. Mr. Guennadi N. Seleznev, a member of the Communist Party, was re-elected Speaker of the State Duma. New elections were scheduled for 19 March 2000 in nine single-member constituencies in which the electorate rejected all the candidates.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (19 December 1999): Elections results
Number of registered electors	107 239 000
Voters	66 840 603 (62 %)

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Communist Party	16 195 569	24.29
Unity	15 548 707	23.32
Fatherland-All Russia	8 886 697	13.33
Union of Right-Wing Forces	567 982	8.52
Yabloko	3 955 457	5.98
Zhirinovsky bloc	3 989 932	5.98
Independents	n.a.	n.a.
" Our Home is Russia "	n.a.	n.a.
Others	n.a.	n.a.

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Proportional	Majority
Communist Party	113	67	46
Unity	72	64	8
Fatherland-All Russia	67	37	30
Union of Right-Wing Forces	29	24	5
Yabloko	21	16	5
Zhirinovsky bloc	17	17	0
Independents	106	0	106
" Our Home is Russia "	7	0	7
Others	9	0	9

Comments:
	Elections must be held again in nine individual constituencies. The rerun has been set for 19 March 2000.

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	407
Women:	34
Percent of women:	7.56