ONLY FOUR PARTIES CLEARED 5 PERCENT BARRIER.

ONLY FOUR PARTIES CLEARED 5 PERCENT BARRIER.

According to the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Nikolai Ryabov, only four parties have mustered enough votes to clear the 5 percent hurdle necessary for representation in the Duma. Vote-counting is still not complete, but the Communist party is maintaining its strong lead with 21.5 percent, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 10.8 percent, "Russia is Our Home" with 9.7 percent and Yabloko with 7.7 percent. Failing to clear the 5 percent hurdle are Women of Russia (4.7 percent), Communists for the USSR (4.6 percent), Russia’s Democratic Choice (4.4 percent) the Congress of Russian Communities (4.2 percent), the Agrarian Party (4.1 percent) and the Workers’ Self-Government Party (4 percent). (8)

Democratic Choice Drops to Seventh Place.