Pamfilova counts three violations; The Insider says more than 1,300 observers were kept out

How clean is the vote? The reports we hold give three counts. Each one measures something different.

Turnout. Interfax gives 33.34% at 15:00 on day two. Life.ru gives 38.9% at 16:00 Moscow time. Both cite the Central Election Commission.

In occupied Ukraine. Life.ru carries 99.9% turnout in Avdiivka, from an official of the occupation administration. Voting there was mobile only, "for security reasons". The report does not say the town is occupied. RIA Novosti carries a Mexican observer praising "transparency" in the "LNR".

Protest. The Moscow Times, Novaya Gazeta Europe and DW (via Ziarul de Gardă) carry protest-vote strategies and war fatigue. The state outlets we hold carry none of it.

Not settled. Who kept the observers out, and who counted them. Where the Lipetsk ballots went. Who punished the three offenders, and how. Whether Interfax's 15:00 is Moscow time.

This story is about how Russia's parliamentary election is going, as two sets of outlets tell it: those that report from inside Russia under state rules, and those that report on Russia from exile.

How it got here. The State Duma is the lower house of Russia's parliament, with 450 seats. It is elected every five years, and the last vote was in September 2021. United Russia, the party that backs President Vladimir Putin, has held a majority there since the early 2000s. Ella Pamfilova has chaired the Central Election Commission since 2016.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That was eight years after it annexed Crimea and backed armed groups in Donbas in 2014. In September 2022 Moscow declared four Ukrainian regions part of Russia, including Donetsk and Luhansk. Almost no state recognises that. Russian forces took Avdiivka, in Donetsk region, in February 2024. Russia now holds its elections there too, which is why a turnout figure from an occupied town appears in a Duma count.

Since 2022 most independent Russian newsrooms have worked from abroad. The Moscow Times, The Insider and Novaya Gazeta Europe publish from outside the country. Novaya Gazeta Europe notes that the "against all" line has been removed from the ballot. So opponents argue over whether to back any party but United Russia, or to spoil the ballot.

The actors. The election commission runs the count and reports turnout. The foreign ministry reports the vote abroad and, according to RIA Novosti, says "the West" is trying to disrupt it. The exiled opposition cannot stand, but tells people how to vote.

What is at stake. In The Moscow Times' words, United Russia's victory is "all but certain". The open questions are turnout, the size of the protest vote, and how much of the count independent observers can see.

Where it stands. Voting was still under way on day two, 19 September. No result had been published.