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Only four parties qualify for State Duma in poll
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) - If State Duma elections were held today, the United Russia party would receive 26% of votes, the Communist Party would win 22% and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and the Yabloko Party would win 5% each, according to a poll. The poll was conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation on January 25- 26 and sampled 1,500 individuals.
All other parties and movements would not be able to obtain the 5% minimum required to take seats in the State Duma.
Six percent of the respondents said they would vote against all parties, 8% said they would not go to polling stations at all and another 19% were undecided.
Alexander Oslon, the foundation's director, believes that parties' popularity ratings have remained stable over the past few months. "This is because for most potential voters, the elections are still far away. Only a few experts, journalists and politicians have started to predict the possible results of the elections," he said.
Oslon predicts that the ratings of United Russia and the Communist Party will not change significantly in the near future. He did not rule out that developments surrounding the Union of Right Forces (SPS) and Yabloko may "cast some shadows" on their ratings.
Meanwhile, a poll conducted by the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies has shown that more than half of Russians (54%) would go to polling stations if elections took place today. About 13% said they would not vote, while 33% were undecided.
According to the center's survey of 1,600 people, conducted on January 24-28, the Communist Party would receive the most votes if parliamentary elections were held today. United Russia would pick up 14%, Yabloko 8%, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 6% and the SPS 5%.
Other parties and movements would not reach the 5% minimum.
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