MOSCOW, 15 November 2023. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey devoted to public perceptions of election; the survey was commissioned by Social Research Expert Institute (EISI). 

Trust levels and assesments of legitimacy

Sixty-one percent of Russians say that they are likely to trust the voting results; this percentage amounts to 69% among electorally active respondents – those who always participate in any elections or try to do this. Trust in elections in Russia is consistently rising – the growth in positive answers made up 8 p.p. since 2021 (53% on Oct 14, 2021) and 15 p.p. since November 2020. In other words, trust in elections has increased 1.3-fold over the tree years.

According to the assessments of the electorally active respondents (their share is 63%), elections in their region are usually fair and have no major violations (67%); they are opposed by 22%; 11% failed to provide an answer.

Participation in elections

More than one-third of Russians say they will definitely take part in all the elections – federal, regional and local (38%); every fourth shows up if possible (25%); the same number of respondents sometimes participate in the voting, sometimes not (24%). Only every tenth respondent ignores the elections (10%).

Voting form

Several years ago, certain election procedures were introduced to make elections more convenient, accessible and less time-consuming in Russia. In particular, a law allowing to show up within 3 days and enabling remote voting was adopted. The September 22 survey reveals that 74% and 60% of respondents (respectively) consider these forms of participation convenient.

Russian nationwide telephone surveys were commissioned by EISI and conducted 26 September 2021, 9 August 2023. The survey of 26 September 2021 involved 1,200 Russians aged 18 and older; a total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and older took part in each of the August surveys. Survey method: telephone interviews; stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.