Gubernatorial direct elections In 2026 at least seven direct gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held in Russia. This number is usually expected to increase due to early retirements and rotations, while
Central Electoral Commission chairwoman
Ella Pamfilova hinted at this exact scenario in late December 2025. Direct gubernatorial elections in Russia are held using
two-round system with the second round necessary in case no candidate achieves outright majority of votes, the most recent time second rounds were held in Russian gubernatorial elections occurred in
2018. First rounds of gubernatorial elections are to be held only on single election day, 20 September 2026, with some regions expected to allow voting on 18 and 19 September. All seven regions, where direct gubernatorial elections are currently scheduled to be held, allow only registered political parties to nominate candidates with self-nomination being prohibited.
Gubernatorial indirect elections In 2026 at least three indirect gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held in Russia. In the indirect gubernatorial election regional chief executive (Head or Governor) is elected in the
regional legislature by a simple majority. In all three regions holding indirect gubernatorial elections in 2026 each political party with factions in the regional legislature or the
State Duma submits up to three candidacies to the
President of Russia who then selects three candidates and presents them to the regional legislature. Currently 36 regional legislatures are expected to be elected by a
parallel voting, while three (in
Chechnya,
Dagestan and
Ingushetia) are elected by a
party-list proportional representation with a 5% threshold.
United Russia will defend its majorities in every regional legislature it received following the
2021 elections, except for
Altai Krai Legislative Assembly, where United Russian only won plurality of seats during the previous cycle. Most regions would also see their constituencies maps, adopted during 2015–16, expire prior to the 2026 elections so new maps should be approved. This redistricting round already sparked conflicts in, for example,
Saint Petersburg,
Altai Krai and
Kursk Oblast, where opposition parties (
CPRF and
Yabloko) accused United Russia of meddling into redistricting process and cracking competitive districts. Another conflict occurred in
Lipetsk Oblast, where regional authorities and loyal deputies are attempting to decrease party-list representation from 14 to 9 members (and overall the composition of
Lipetsk Oblast Council of Deputies from 42 to 36 members), which limits the ability of opposition parties to gain a decent representation.
Legislative by-elections == Municipal elections ==