United Russia may claim 238 seats out of the 450 in the wake of Sunday’s elections to the State Duma of the sixth convocation. This came in a statement at a news conference earlier today by the Chairman of the Central Elections Commission Vladimir Churov.

He was speaking after 96% of the ballots cast had been counted. The Communist Party has won 92 seats, A Just Russia – 64 seats, and the Liberal Democrats, 56 seats.

This means that United Russia has lost its constitutional majority in parliament, but has retained an absolute majority, which will enable it to make decisions without having to rely on other parties’ support.

The Yabloko, Right Cause and Patriots of Russia non-parliamentary parties have failed to poll enough votes to qualify for the new Duma. Churov said that turnout had exceeded 60%, which is nonetheless 3% lower than in the 2007 elections. This year, the Duma has been elected for five years for the first time, rather than for four years, as was the case before.