Pro-Kremlin party wins big majority in Russian parliament

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at United Party's election headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016. Early results on Sunday are reported to show Russia's ruling United Russia party winning in the parliamentary election amid allegations of election violations. (Yekaterina Shtukina/Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at United Party's election headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016. Early results on Sunday are reported to show Russia's ruling United Russia party winning in the parliamentary election amid allegations of election violations. (Yekaterina Shtukina/Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP)

By Associated Press September 19, 2016 1 min read

MOSCOW (AP) – Near-complete results from Russia’s national parliament election show the Kremlin’s power-base party United Russia taking an overwhelming majority of the seats.

The Central Elections Commission said Monday that with 90 percent of the vote counted, United Russia had 54 percent of the vote for the 225 seats chosen nationwide by party list. United Russia candidates were also ahead in 203 of the races for the other 225 seats chosen by district.

That would give United Russia the two-thirds majority necessary to amend the constitution.

The three other parties that had seats in the previous State Duma also won seats in the new assembly — the Communists, the nationalist Liberal Democrats and A Just Russia. No others cleared the 5-percent mark needed to win party-list seats.