The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled last week that the 2011 Russian parliamentary elections were “unfair” and “compromised,” World Affairs Journal reported.

“The seven-judge panel (that included a judge from Russia) unanimously ruled that there has been a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to free elections,” World Affairs said.

In the case of Davydov and Others vs. Russia, the court concluded that the ” fairness of the elections … was seriously compromised by the procedure in which the votes had been recounted.  In particular, the extent of recounting, unclear reasons for ordering it, lack of transparency and breaches of procedural guarantees in carrying it out, as well as the results whereby the ruling party gained votes by large margins, strongly support the suspicion of unfairness.”

In the 2011 elections, 450 seats were up for grabs in the Federal Assembly of Russia’s lower house, called the State Duma.

In the final tally, President Vladimir Putin’s party, United Russia, won 238 of the 450 seats and got just under 50% of the vote to retain their majority. In 2007 , United Russia won 67% of the vote.

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Featured image courtesy of Reuters