1999 Russian legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Russia on 19 December 1999 to elect the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly. Like in the previous elections in 1995, the electoral system resulted in many parties competing for the proportional seats and a significant number of independent deputies elected.
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation experienced major losses in the election, and for the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union a solid majority emerged in the State Duma that supported economic reforms towards a market economy. The result was favorable for President Boris Yeltsin and solidified the popularity of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ahead of the 2000 presidential election. Although the Communists still had the largest number of seats, the Unity party, endorsed by Putin, was in a close second. The Fatherland - All Russia bloc of former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov and Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was in third place, followed by the Union of Right Forces, led by former prime minister Sergey Kiriyenko. Several small parties also won seats.
Background
Initially the Fatherland bloc, which was led by Yevgeny Primakov and Yuri Luzhkov, and was critical of President Boris Yeltsin, was leading in the polls for most of 1999. Primakov was popular because of his tenure as the prime minister from 1998 until the spring of 1999, before his dismissal by Yeltsin. However, after Vladimir Putin was appointed prime minister in August 1999, he experienced a meteoric rise in popularity due to his response to the war in the North Caucasus and improving economic conditions from higher oil prices. Putin endorsed the pro-government Unity party led by Sergei Shoigu on 24 November 1999. It also received the endorsement of Aman Tuleyev, the Communist governor of Kemerovo Oblast. By early December, Unity surpassed the Fatherland bloc in the polls and was in second place after the Communists, whose support was declining compared to previous elections.Electoral system
According to the 1993 electoral law, 225 members of the house were allocated proportionally, using statewide party lists, while other 225 members were elected in single-member constituencies, using first past the post system.To secure a place on the ballot, parties had to have registered with the Russian Ministry of Justice one year before the election. As an alternative to gathering 200,000 signatures, they had the option of paying a deposit of just over two million roubles, returnable if the party won at least 3.0 percent of the list vote. In order to increase proportionality, the law provided that if parties reaching the five per cent threshold got in total 50 per cent or less of the vote, parties with at least 3.0 per cent of the vote would also win seats by declining numbers of votes up to the point at which the total share of vote exceeded 50 per cent. However, if after this procedure the parties winning seats still had less than 50 per cent of the vote, the election was to be deemed invalid. In the single-member district ballots, if votes cast against all exceeded the votes of each candidate, a repeat election had to be held within four months. As a result, repeat elections had to be held in eight districts. Finally, as an alternative to gathering signatures in support of their nomination, single-member district candidates were also given the option of paying a deposit of 83,490 roubles, returnable if they won at least 5.0 percent of the district vote.