MOSCOW, October 12, 2007 Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents information concerning what constitutes the "patriotic electorate" and what parties its representatives intend to vote for at the elections.

Today Russians are most likely to sympathise with parties that follow the patriotic trend: 60% respondents are willing to vote for them at the nearest elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation (including 31% of respondents who definitely plan to vote that way). 40% of respondents intend to support parties, which assert democratic values, parties of the socialist, left trend find 38% of supporters. Still fewer respondents - 11 to 13% for each option - express their desire to most definitely vote for these latter parties.

The willingness to vote for the parties of patriotic trend is especially wide-spread among respondents of 60 years and older: 65% of them are willing to do so. However, the patriotic choice seems to be up to date for 55% even among respondents of 18-24 years of age. Parties asserting patriotic values obtain less support in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other large cities of the country (53% of respondents here admit that they might vote for them), than in average and small cities and villages (61-64%).

When we speak about particular parties of the patriotic trend, the majority of patriotic voters give their preference to "Unified Russia"; 76% of this group of respondents admit that they might vote for it. "Fair Russia" occupies the second place in the rating (15%), whereas the Communist Party, KPRF obtained the third one (12%), 4% of patriotically inclined respondents for each group chose the Agrarian party and "Patriots o Russia", and 2% chose "People's Union".

"Unified Russia" enjoys more popularity among young patriots (84% in the group of 18-24 years of age and 65% in the group of 60 years and older), KPRF is more frequently supported by older people (6% and 26% respectively).

It is important to remember that according to the results of surveys carried out on September 8-9 and 29-30 this year, "Unified Russia" also became an indisputable leader of political sympathies for democrat and socialist voters: in the first case 70% think it possible to vote for them (the party's nearest rival, Union of Right Forces, only collects 8%), in the second - 63% (the nearest rivals - KPRF and "Fair Russia" obtained 17% each).

The initiative all-Russia opinion poll was conducted by VCIOM on October 6-7, 2007. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 153 population areas of 46 regions of Russia. The statistical error does not exceed 3.4%.