United Russia gets 238 seats in new Duma

Russia's Central Elections Commission (CEC) announced Friday that the United Russia party gained 238 out of 450 seats in the new State Duma, or the lower house of the parliament.With all votes counted, the Communist Party got 92 seats, A Just Russia 64 seats and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia ( LDPR) 56 seats, said deputy head of the CEC Leonid Ivlev.The ruling United Russia, led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, gained 49.32 percent of votes, lost a constitutional majority in the new Duma but kept an absolute majority.In the previous elections in 2007, United Russia won 64.3 percent of the vote, gaining 315 seats and holding a two-thirds majority in the State Duma.Ivlev said that Communist Party got 19.19 percent of Sunday's votes, A Just Russia party garnered 13.24 percent and the LDPR 11. 67 percent.He also declared the Sunday elections valid, adding that the turnout of Sunday's parliamentary elections was 60.21 percent, 3.5 percent lower than in 2007.According to the election laws, the State Duma's 450 seats will be distributed on a proportional basis to all parties that receive at least 7 percent of vote.The CEC said on Monday that four out of seven parties competing in Sunday's elections passed the 7 percent threshold and entered the sixth Duma, including the ruling United Russia party, the Communist Party, A Just Russia and the LDPR.The other three parties contesting the election, the Yabloko, the Patriots of Russia and the Right Cause, secured less than 4 percent of votes each.After the CEC's Monday announcement, Moscow was marred by protests against the elections results.