Elections of deputies to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the ninth convocation and to the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region of the eighth convocation were held on 18–20 September 2026 as part of the unified voting day. Within the Nizhny Novgorod Region, they became the largest combined electoral campaigns at both the regional and federal levels. Simultaneously, local elections were held in a number of municipal formations.[1]

Organization of voting

In the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 2,174 polling stations were opened; all of them began operating on 18 September at 8:00 a.m. — the opening was accompanied by the performance of the state anthem.[1] Voting was conducted over three consecutive days from 8:00 to 20:00. The total number of registered voters was 2,452,016. Approximately 34,000 voters who had turned 18 by election day were eligible to vote for the first time; at polling stations they were presented with souvenirs from the Electoral Commission of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. In 58 municipal formations, youth electoral commissions operated under the territorial electoral commissions, and Clubs of Young Voters were active at 46 municipal libraries.[2][3]

In addition to in-person voting at polling stations, residents of the region had access to: mobile at-home voting for those unable to attend due to health or other valid reasons (applications were accepted on any of the voting days, and on 20 September until 14:00); voting at one's location of stay through the "Mobile Voter" mechanism; and remote electronic voting, available continuously from 8:00 on 18 September to 20:00 on 20 September.[1] Of the 159,687 voters who had registered for remote electronic voting, 130,695 — or 81.84% — made use of it.[3]

Local elections

Alongside the federal and regional campaigns, elections of deputies to representative bodies were held in a number of municipalities of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The main campaigns took place in the Vyksa urban district and the Semyonovsky municipal district; supplementary elections were held in the Balakhninsky, Vadskiy, and Vorotynsky municipal districts, as well as in the Bor municipal district.[1]

Turnout

As of 12:00 on the third day of voting, September 20, overall voter turnout in Nizhny Novgorod Region stood at 47.16%: 1,165,934 voters had cast their ballots.[3] The most active voters were residents of Varnavinskiy Municipal District, where turnout reached 77.25%. By 18:00 on September 20, the top three districts by turnout were Varnavinskiy Municipal District (88.61%), Sosnovskiy Municipal District (85.55%), and Tonshaevskiy Municipal District (82.75%).[4][3] For comparison, turnout in the region during the equivalent State Duma elections in September 2021 was 48.5%. On September 19, mobile teams from the Public Election Observation Headquarters visited more than 250 polling stations in Nizhny Novgorod, Dzerzhinsk, the city of Bor, and the Pavlovsky and Gorodetsky Districts. Upon the conclusion of voting, the Public Election Observation Headquarters recorded no violations during the preparation or conduct of the elections in Nizhny Novgorod Region.[5][3]

According to the preliminary results for the federal district, the party Just Russia cleared the 5-percent threshold in the elections to the State Duma of the ninth convocation.[5]

Sources

  1. Vremya N — Elections have begun in Nizhny Novgorod Region
  2. Vremya N — In the 2026 elections in Nizhny Novgorod Region, approximately 34,000 voters who turned 18 by election day were able to participate in voting for the first time. At the poll
  3. RIA Novosti — Voter turnout in Nizhny Novgorod Region exceeded 47 percent (archive)
  4. nnov.er.ru — By 18:00 on the final day of voting, September 20, overall turnout in Nizhny Novgorod Region including remote electronic voting reached 57.21% — voted
  5. Nizhniy seychas — On September 19, mobile teams from the Public Election Observation Headquarters visited more than 250 polling stations in Nizhny Novgorod, Dzerzhinsk, the city of Bor,
  6. nnov.er.ru — As of 15:00 on the third day of voting, September 20, overall turnout in Nizhny Novgorod Region including remote electronic voting reached 52.64