This survey took place between 23-26 September 2016 and was conducted throughout all of Russia in both urban and rural settings. The survey was carried out among 1600 people over the age of 18 in 137 localities of 48 of the country’s regions. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
The statistical error of these studies for a selection of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25% / 75%
2.0% for indicators around 10% / 90%
1.5% for indicators around 5% / 95%
Party Leader Debates
IN YOUR OPINION, WHICH PARTY OR PARTIES’ REPRESENTATIVES WERE MOST INTERESTING AND CONVINCING DURING THE TELEVISED DEBATES? (as a percentage of those respondents, who watched the debates; multiple answers)*
| Dec.03 | Dec.07 | Dec.11 | Sept.16 | |
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) | 24 | 24 | 47 | 39 |
| United Russia | 13 | 31 | 35 | 33 |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) | 15 | 12 | 33 | 22 |
| A Just Russia | 12 | 17 | 34 | 13 |
WHICH PARTIES’ ELECTION CLIPS WERE THE MOST MEMORABLE? (multiple answers)*
| Dec.03 | Dec.07 | Dec.11 | Sept.16 | |
| United Russia | 20 | 45 | 25 | 18 |
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) | 16 | 36 | 27 | 14 |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) | 7 | 11 | 17 | 9 |
| A Just Russia | 9 | 28 | 21 | 6 |
WHICH PARTIES’ CAMPAIGNS, IN YOUR OPINION, WERE MOST ACTIVE DURING THE FINAL WEEK IN THE LEAD-UP TO THE ELECTIONS? (multiple answers)*
| Dec.03 | Dec.07 | Dec.11 | Sept.16 | |
| United Russia | 30 | 51 | 27 | 18 |
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) | 17 | 22 | 21 | 10 |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) | 5 | 10 | 10 | 6 |
| A Just Russia** | 9 | 18 | 15 | 4 |
* The table presents the four parties which were most identified by respondents and each garnered more than 5% of responses in September 2016.
** In 2003 – Rodina
*** In 2003, 2007 and 2011 – election ads
HOW GREAT AN INFLUENCE DID PRE-ELECTION DEBATES BETWEEN PARTY LEADERS HAVE ON YOUR CHOICE OF WHOM TO VOTE FOR?
| Dec.07 | Dec.11 | Sept.16 | |
| Very large | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Somewhat large | 22 | 14 | 11 |
| Somewhat small | 17 | 12 | 10 |
| Very small | 13 | 11 | 10 |
| No influence | 36 | 52 | 59 |
| It is difficult to say | 7 | 9 | 7 |
DID TELEVISION, RADIO, OR NEWSPAPERS INFLUENCE YOUR DECISION TO VOTE FOR A CERTAIN PARTY OR NOT TAKE PART IN THE ELECTIONS? (one answer)
| Dec.95 | Dec.03 | Dec.07 | Dec.11 | Sept.16 | |
| They drew my attention to the elections | 24 | 23 | 15 | 19 | 16 |
| They clarified the pre-election situation for me | 20 | 19 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| They helped me decide if it was worth it to vote, and if so, for which party | 7 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 6 |
| They only confuse and make it difficult to decide | 12 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 3 |
| They did not influence me at all | 18 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 |
| I pay no attention to such programs/articles because I, as a rule, don’t believe TV, newspapers, or radio | 9 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| I don’t watch, read, or listen to such programs/articles because I am not interested in politics | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 |
| Other | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| I don’t watch television, don’t listen to the radio, and don’t read the newspaper | – | – | – | – | 5 |
| It is difficult to say | 10 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 11 |
DID SOCIAL NETWORKS, THE INTERNET INFLUENCE YOUR DECISION TO VOTE FOR A CERTAIN PARTY OR NOT TAKE PART IN THE ELECTIONS? (one answer)
| Sept.16 | |
| They drew my attention to the elections | 7 |
| They clarified the pre-election situation for me | 5 |
| They helped me decide if it was worth it to vote, and if so, for which party | 3 |
| They only confuse and make it difficult to decide | 2 |
| They did not influence me at all | 21 |
| I pay no attention to them because I as a rule don’t believe them | 11 |
| I don’t watch or read about the elections because I’m not interested in politics | 16 |
| Other | 2 |
| I don’t use the internet/social networks | 20 |
| It is difficult to say | 14 |
Translated by Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (formerly Monterey Institute of International Studies).
The ANO Levada Center has been included in the register of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents. See the Director of the Levada Center’s statement of disagreement with this decision here.