Russia’s ruling United Russia party finished first in nine out of the 27 foreign cities where results had been posted by the Central Election Commission as of the afternoon of Sept. 21, according to The Insider’s analysis of official overseas voting data. Russia’s ruling party won in Riga, Baku, Bishkek, Canberra, Marseille, Sydney, Sofia, Istanbul, and Hanoi.
In Marseille, only 118 people voted, with United Russia receiving 35.59%, or 42 votes. New People received 33 votes and the Communist Party 18. By comparison, 506 people voted in Marseille in the 2024 presidential election, meaning turnout at the polling station fell by about 77%. At the time, the Russian Embassy published turnout figures for all polling stations in France.
The difference is particularly striking when compared with Paris. The Russian Embassy said more than 1,300 people voted there on Sept. 20, and New People finished first at the polling station with 42.88%, while United Russia received 21.59% and the Communist Party 18.68%.
United Russia recorded its strongest result among the nine cities it won in Sofia, with 40.8%. A reported 652 people cast ballots there. The party received 39.18% in Canberra, 37.15% in Riga, 36.07% in Istanbul, 35.96% in Bishkek, 35.59% in Marseille, 34.74% in Hanoi, and 34.63% in Baku.
The result in Sydney was almost tied: United Russia received 31.66% and New People 31.35%. The gap was just 0.31 percentage points — the narrowest margin between the first- and second-place parties among the nine cities where, according to official results, United Russia finished first.
In the other 18 of the 27 cities, New People finished first. These locations included Almaty, Bangkok, Barcelona, Warsaw, Vienna, Vilnius, The Hague, Da Nang, Salzburg, Ljubljana, Paris, Prague, Phuket, Strasbourg, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Helsinki, and Ho Chi Minh City.
In several cities, the gap was wide. In Ljubljana, New People received 61.47% to United Russia’s 8.23%; in Salzburg, 60.79% to 9.71%; in The Hague, 57.93% to 6.65%; in Barcelona, 55.44% to 5.56%; and in Prague, 54.35% to 7.72%. In the Vietnamese city of Da Nang, United Russia received a mere 3.94%, compared with 50.81% for New People.
In 15 of the 18 cities where United Russia did not finish first, it was also beaten by the Communist Party, leaving the ruling party in third place. United Russia finished second in Paris, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.
The overseas results differed markedly from the nationwide vote inside Russia. As of 2 p.m. on Sept. 21, United Russia had received 39.58% of ballots cast abroad, New People 24.49% and the Communist Party 16.99%. Across Russia, with more than 95% of ballots processed, United Russia had received an official 57.83% and New People 7.96%.
New People’s share abroad was more than three times its nationwide result, while United Russia’s was about 18 percentage points lower, according to The Insider’s calculations. Russians voting abroad also produced results that differed significantly from the nationwide totals in the 2024 presidential election.
Voting in Transnistria stood out in the opposite direction. Seventeen polling stations were in operation in the breakaway Moldovan region, including six in its largest city, Tiraspol. According to their combined reported results, United Russia received 77.76% of the vote, or 39,733 of 51,092 ballots. The Communist Party received 6.32% and New People 3.25%.
