COMMUNISTS, NATIONALISTS TAKE EARLY LEAD IN VOTING BY PARTY.

Based on preliminary results from 58 out of 89 subjects of the Russian Federation (representing one-third of the electorate, including Moscow and St. Petersburg), Central Electoral Commission chief Nikolai Rybaov has officially confirmed that the Russian Communist party, the Liberal Democrats, "Russia is Our Home" and Yabloko surmounted the 5 percent barrier for representation in the Duma. A number of other parties are just within reach. These are Russia’s Democratic Choice (4.8 percent), Women of Russia (4.5 percent), the Party of Worker’s Self-Government (4.1 percent), Congress of Russian Communities (4.1 percent) and Communists-Working Russia-For the Soviet Union (4.1 percent). Ryabov said the Agrarian Party’s performance, with just 3.3 percent, was unexpectedly low. In Moscow, "Russia is Our Home" took the largest percent of votes–20.5–followed by the communists and Yabloko with over 15 percent each. The Liberal Democrats captured a mere 2.6 percent in the capital. Ryabov contrasted these figures to the results from Rostov oblast, in the heartland, where the Communists took a healthy 27 percent and "Russia is Our Home" only 5.4 percent. He also cautioned that the outcome of the party slate balloting could be offset by the as yet unannounced single-mandate results. (1)

Single-Constituent Votes Not Yet Counted.