# 2003 Russian legislative election

Legislative elections were held in Russia on 7 December 2003. At stake were the 450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), the lower house of the Federal Assembly.
As expected, the pro-Vladimir Putin United Russia party received the most votes (38%) and won the most seats, gaining a plurality in the Duma. The Communist Party remained the second largest, though much reduced in strength. The Liberal Democratic Party improved its position by 19 seats, while the liberal Yabloko and the liberal-conservative Union of Right Forces lost most of their seats.

## Results

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats | +/– |
| | United Russia | 22,776,294 | 38.16 | 120 | 14,123,625 | 23.95 | 103 | 223 | New |
| | Communist Party | 7,647,820 | 12.81 | 40 | 6,577,598 | 11.15 | 12 | 52 | −61 |
| | Liberal Democratic Party | 6,944,322 | 11.64 | 36 | 1,860,905 | 3.16 | 0 | 36 | +19 |
| | National Patriotic Union "Rodina" | 5,470,429 | 9.17 | 29 | 1,719,147 | 2.92 | 8 | 37 | New |
| | Yabloko | 2,610,087 | 4.37 | 0 | 1,580,629 | 2.68 | 4 | 4 | −16 |
| | Union of Right Forces | 2,408,535 | 4.04 | 0 | 1,764,290 | 2.99 | 3 | 3 | −26 |
| | Agrarian Party | 2,205,850 | 3.70 | 0 | 1,104,974 | 1.87 | 2 | 2 | New |
| | Russian Pensioners' Party–Party of Social Justice | 1,874,973 | 3.14 | 0 | 342,891 | 0.58 | 0 | 0 | −1 |
| | Party of Russia's Rebirth–Russian Party of Life | 1,140,413 | 1.91 | 0 | 1,584,904 | 2.69 | 3 | 3 | New |
| | People's Party | 714,705 | 1.20 | 0 | 2,677,889 | 4.54 | 17 | 17 | New |
| | Conceptual Party "Unity" | 710,721 | 1.19 | 0 | 9,334 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | New Course — Automobile Russia | 509,302 | 0.85 | 0 | 222,090 | 0.38 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | For a Holy Russia | 298,826 | 0.50 | 0 | 59,986 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Russian Ecological Party "The Greens" | 253,985 | 0.43 | 0 | 69,585 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Development of Enterprise | 212,827 | 0.36 | 0 | 237,527 | 0.40 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Great Russia – Eurasian Union | 170,796 | 0.29 | 0 | 464,602 | 0.79 | 1 | 1 | New |
| | Genuine Patriots of Russia | 149,151 | 0.25 | 0 | 2,564 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Party of Peace and Unity | 148,954 | 0.25 | 0 | 10,664 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | United Russian Party Rus' | 147,441 | 0.25 | 0 | 570,453 | 0.97 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Democratic Party | 136,295 | 0.23 | 0 | 94,810 | 0.16 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Russian Constitutional Democratic Party | 113,190 | 0.19 | 0 | | | | 0 | New |
| | Union of People for Education and Science | 107,448 | 0.18 | 0 | 16,111 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | People's Republican Party | 80,420 | 0.13 | 0 | 2,995 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Other parties | | | | 288,866 | 0.49 | 0 | 0 | – |
| | Independents | | | | 15,843,626 | 26.86 | 67 | 67 | −38 |
| Against all | Against all | 2,851,958 | 4.78 | – | 7,744,998 | 13.13 | – | – | – |
| Vacant seats | Vacant seats | | | | | | 3 | 3 | – |
| Total | Total | 59,684,742 | 100.00 | 225 | 58,975,063 | 100.00 | 225 | 450 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 59,684,742 | 98.44 | | 58,975,063 | 97.93 | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 948,435 | 1.56 | | 1,247,491 | 2.07 | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 60,633,177 | 100.00 | | 60,222,554 | 100.00 | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 108,906,250 | 55.67 | | 108,906,250 | 55.30 | | | |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver, IPU, 2003 elections ||||||||||

## Legacy

The 2003 election is cited by scholars as a turning point in Russian politics, as it marked the moment the federal parliament effectively became a rubber stamp body.