Expert: Russians in Latvia follow propaganda and vote for Putin's party
Commenting on the results of the Russian State Duma elections, the Executive Director of the Center for East European Policy Studies, Andis Kudors, stated in an interview with Latvijas Avīze that Russians in Latvia don’t live in the real Russia; they see only a heavily colored television image and then vote mainly for the United Russia Party.
“The voting citizens live in the information era of Russian official TV channels. That is why Russians in Latvia as well as in Russia vote for the United Russia Party. The turnout in the Russian State Duma elections wasn’t high enough because people don’t believe in changes anymore. The electorate of the United Russia Party consists of employees of state institutions and retired people. These population groups depend on the decisions of the authorities. The Russian United Democratic Party 'Yabloko' and the People’s Freedom Party could change something in these elections. However, many people think that changes are almost impossible,” Kudors explained.
A total of 13,832 people cast their votes in the Russian State Duma elections in Latvia. The majority of them (10,425 people) voted for the United Russia Party, the Russian Embassy reported. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation was the second most popular party: 1,138 people voted for it. Third place was taken by the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, which gained 567 votes.
Consequently, the winners in Latvia are the same as in the Russian Federation. However, the United Russia Party won a significantly larger portion of votes in Latvia.