Every four years, direct elections with a 5 percent threshold take place. The threshold was introduced to encourage the formation of a smaller number of parties, but has actually weakened the political system, since in the 1995 elections only four parties passed the 5 percent barrier. The four represented parties only gained 50.5 percent of the votes, so in effect the four parties in the Duma all received a proportion of seats twice as large as their proportion of the votes while the views of almost half the population were unrepresented in the Duma. The remaining 225 seats are contested in geographical constituencies. A new Voting Law was implemented in June 1999.
Candidates are to declare income, property, and criminal convictions if existing.