Putin's party leads as polls close in Russian parliamentary election

Polls closed on Sunday after Russians voted in a three-day parliamentary election.

The voting, which was expanded to three days as part of coronavirus measures, ended as of 20.00 p.m. local time (1700 GMT).

With 14 parties competing for 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the parliament, only the MPs that pass the 5% threshold will win a seat.

Citing data from the Central Election Commission, Russia's TASS news agency said at least five parties passed the 5% threshold.

According to the Insomar exit poll, President Vladimir Putin's party United Russia secured 45.2% of the votes, the Communist Party 21%, the Liberal Democrat Party 8.6 %, and Fair Russia 7.9 % to pass the election threshold.

Following the voting, Russia's Central Election Commission head Ella Pamfilova announced over 45% election turnout across the country.