Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said in early December that they had requested authorization for a national protest march on December 22 against the election results, as well as growing prices. He pledged to gather over 7 million protesters.
Zyuganov - whose party took 11.6% of the vote in parliamentary polls on December 2 and was one of four parties that made it into the lower house of parliament - said violations had been reported virtually in all Russia's regions, and were especially prolific in the Siberian Kemerovo Region, the southern republics of Daghestan and Kabardino-Balkaria, and Mordovia in the Volga area.
He also said some voters had been threatened that their relatives could face redundancy, and up to 40-50 times more absentee ballots were issued in a number of regions than in previous election campaigns.
International monitors said Russia's elections had failed to meet basic democratic standards, saying that President Putin, who headed United Russia's candidate list and campaigned on its behalf, had effectively merged the state with his party in the run-up to the election. They also noted undemocratic election legislation amendments and media restrictions.
Russian officials retorted that the State Duma vote showed popular confidence in the policies pursued by the Kremlin and would help ensure further sustainable growth and stability.
Russia's new parliament was officially formed on Wednesday with the final member receiving his last mandate from the Central Election Commission.
The pro-Kremlin United Russia party, the outright winner of the elections, received 315 seats in the 450-seat legislature. The Communists will have 57 seats, followed by the Liberal-Democratic party with 40 seats, and the Kremlin loyalist A Just Russia party - 38 seats.
