What happened? 
On 17 September, Russia began polling for its three-day general elections both online and offline. The parliamentary election, which ended on 19 September, elected 450 deputies to the State Duma for five years. Despite an easy win of 49.82 per cent votes, the United Russia party lost significant ground compared to their 2016 election win of 54 per cent votes. Contributions by other parties included the Communist party with 18.93 per cent of the vote, while the LDPR party and the Fair Russia party garnered 7.5 per cent individually. Overall, the elections saw an official voter turnout of 51.7 per cent. 

On 20 September, jailed critic Alexei Navalny's aide Lyubov Sobol said: "With such a colossal number of violations, the results of the State Duma elections cannot be recognized as clean, honest or legitimate." 

On 24 September, after announcing the final results, Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairperson Ella Pamfilova said: "We did everything we could, based on our understanding of honour and conscience, everything we could, and it's up to you to judge." 

What is the background? 
First, the pre-election controversies. Before the elections, Kremlin critics were barred from participation while others were implicated with legal suits or unexplained arrests. The Smart voting app promoted by jailed Alexei Navalny's supporters was banned. The subsequent crackdown on civil society, media, and other NGOs also raised concerns about attempts to silence the Opposition. During the elections, criticisms ranged from accusations of voter fraud to requests of annulling the results. Ballot box stuffing, pens with disappearing ink, and threats against observers were other alleged violations.  

Second, the Opposition's role. The opposition parties that participated in the elections provided a pretence of pluralism, as critics were carefully excluded. This lack of real electoral competition implied the results were a foregone conclusion. Over the years, this has been the case with Russian elections. Since the beginning of Putin's regime, all of his elections have been termed fraudulent, and every time, these allegations have been strategically silenced. Alexei Navalny, the prominent Kremlin-rival, had managed to garner an efficient opposition. The idea of Navalny – Opposition to the Kremlin became quite popular despite the Kremlin crackdown. Once Navalny's organization was termed 'extremist', and he was jailed, the vocality of the Opposition was lost. 

Third, fairness of the election. Russia's 'managed/guided' form of democracy was evident via this election. The 'opposition' was Kremlin-approved since critics were effortlessly silenced or taken off the arena. According to the Interior Ministry, none of the 750 complaints on voting violations received was severe enough to affect the results. For the first time since 2007, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), didn't send in election observers due to limitations set by Moscow. It seems only fair that this year's elections were dubbed 'a transition from a flawed democracy to a fully-fledged authoritarian state'. 

Fourth, the backlash. Internal criticisms included a coalition of defeated candidates claiming foul-play over the online voting system; they also asked for annulling the results. However, these claims were not taken into consideration by the Russian CEC. There was also an international backlash. From the US State Department spokesperson Ned Price to the EU Foreign Affairs spokesperson Peter Sano, the elections were termed undemocratic and staged. Other European countries also called out Moscow's growing authoritarianism.  

What does it mean? 
First, questions over democracy in Russia. The opinion polls had predicted United Russia's popularity accounting for less than 30 per cent; however, the Kremlin achieved a supermajority despite a low turnout. In light of this, questions arise regarding Moscow's larger democratic process and whether the concept of Russian democracy is a sham. It also indicates that a return to full-fledged democracy is not in the cards for Russia. 

Second, Putin's hold over Russia. Despite the widespread violations by his administration, Putin's popularity in terms of votes was unaffected. Kremlin's justification of the crackdown prosecuting those deviants of the law rather than one with political motives shows how effortlessly critics are silenced in Russia.